History is about will take place in Madison, Wisconsin. A team of game developers has assembled in person to await the results of the National Labor Relations Board election that will determine if the quality assurance workers at Call of Duty developer Raven Software had the majority votes needed to unify the roughly two dozen employees under the giant known as Activision Blizzard.
Jessica Gonzalez said: “It was a beautiful day to unite a problem first Activision Blizzard staff are currently working as campaign organizers at CODE-CWA, in a Twitter space go live on May 23. “It took months to get here,” notes Gonzalez. Now it’s only a few minutes before they know if the employee’s efforts have been successful. “BOOM!” someone shouted in the background, while Gonzalez announced the official verdict: 19 for and 3 against. “We made it! We won our union”.
The window for Activision Blizzard to challenge those votes closed on May 31. Raven Software’s election results are now official, cementing a historic victory for unions in the video game industry. . Game Workers Unionwas founded by the quality assurance staff at the Wisconsin-based studio, in collaboration with the nation’s largest media and communications union, America’s Media Workers, is the first to exist at an AAA developer. Raven’s success has been a fundamental shift, according to Emma Kinema, CODE-CWA’s senior campaign head, which shows the industry is doing more than just acknowledging its worst habits. me.
“We are entering a new phase in organizing,” says Kinema. “We’re really making change and making it at the heart of the company’s growth.”
Despite decades of poor working conditions, including overtime penalties, inadequate pay and sexual harassment, the video game industry has moved towards unionization at a icy tempo. Discussions around unions and better working conditions are at the forefront at events like 2018 Game Developers Conference; but it wasn’t until last year that North America’s first union was formed with an independent studio Vodeo game. Video game workers are in the unique position of falling behind both the tech and media industries, Kinema says, leading to a long-term cycle of burnout and talent loss. “It has the worst characteristics of both of those industries.”
Activision Blizzard’s harassment scandal galvanized workers to unite. A group of employees established A Better ABK, successfully implemented walk, organized strike fund, and more to support better working conditions. That sets an example for the staff at Raven, who organized a strike near the seven weeks after a dozen QA workers were informed that their contracts would not be renewed.
Quality assurance tester Becca Aigner said in a Washington Post current that the GWA was able to follow the examples given by A Better ABK. The group decided to take the name Game Workers Union in the hopes that others in the game would rally together for the larger goal of improving workplace conditions. “What Raven has been through is not unique to the industry,” Aigner said. “This is an industry-wide problem.”
“We need a seat at the table, and negotiations are like that. We need a role and an agent [advocating for] best interests for what QA needs. “She continues to want employees to guarantee their jobs and acknowledges that QA is not a revolving door position.
