Text/Kakab
But Raven Software QA employees, organized by the Game Workers Alliance, will not be able to benefit from the new pay raise
Recently, activision Blizzard employee strikes have made progress in stages, and Activision Blizzard announced that it will convert more than 1,000 temporary and contract QA employees into full-time employees and provide a minimum wage of $20 per hour. Hours later, Activision Blizzard said Raven Software QA employees would not be taken into account in the agreement. According to Bloomberg, Raven Software's QA testers recently formed the Game Workers Alliance, which they won't be able to enjoy the new minimum wage — something Activision Blizzard didn't mention when it released its initial message to the media. Excluding employees from company benefits appears to be Activision Blizzard's latest move against the burgeoning labor movement within the company.
Activision Blizzard spokeswoman Jessica Taylor confirmed Bloomberg's findings in a statement to The Verge, saying:
"All of Raven's QAs are full-time employees who are already eligible for the full benefits of the company and are eligible to participate in the company's bonus program. Since our legal obligations are set out in the National Labour Relations Act, we are not currently in a position to develop a new remuneration package for Raven as this will be a new pay change. ”
In addition to the statement, Activision Blizzard provided The Verge with a copy of an email sent to employees by Ravin Software studio director Brian Raphael.
team
Today, the company announced that all TEA and QA personnel based in the United States will be converted to FTE. This news builds on our conversion of AP Studios starting in December 2021. Through direct dialogue with each other, we've raised salaries, expanded benefits, and provided professional opportunities to attract and retain the best talent in the world.
As part of today's news, the minimum hourly wage for Activision's QA team will be raised. In addition, when the conversion occurs, these QA employees will receive the full benefits of the company and be eligible to participate in the company's bonus program, just as our Raven QA team has been able to do. Due to our legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act, we are now prohibited from making new compensation changes in Raven.
I encourage you to communicate with any department leader, manager, or HR department to learn more about the union, the process, or to answer any specific questions about [this] news.
As always, I will share more details when possible. I'm excited about what this means for our team.
The email appeared to be an attempt to pour cold water on the Game Workers Alliance's ongoing efforts to establish the company's first union. For example, "Through direct dialogue with each other, we have raised wages, expanded benefits, and provided career opportunities," the message is that the union activities of the organizers prevent them from enjoying the benefits that the company offers to others.
Since Activision Blizzard did not voluntarily recognize the union, the next step will be for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to oversee the vote. If a majority of voters are in favor of a union, they must acknowledge this and begin negotiations. But the vote didn't happen, and excluding Raven QA from company-wide QA improvements could threaten employee organizers and neutrals to vote against unionization.
Agrees with the Communications Workers Association of America (CWA), which helps form and advocate for unions at several tech companies, including Activision Blizzard. In an email, CWA secretary and treasurer Sarah Stephens told The Verge website:
There's no doubt that Activision Blizzard's latest move to offer full-time jobs to all temporary and temporary QA team members, as well as the pay rise, should be credited to those employees who have been organizing, mobilizing and speaking out.
Particularly irritating is activision's exclusion of Raven Software QA personnel from these benefits, and they are the pioneers in this regard. The company claims that the National Labor Relations Act prohibits them from including Raven workers, which is clearly splitting employees and undermining their efforts to form unions (Game Workers Union - CWA). Activision's false claims are further proof that employees need to have a protected voice at work. We strongly urge Activision Blizzard to rectify this situation and respect the protected rights of Raven QA employees to organize in accordance with the law.
Of course, Activision Blizzard describes it very differently. Here's Activision spokesperson Rich George's response to the CWA:
The trade unions' claims are both false and hypocritical. It is well known that during election petitions, the law prohibits employers from offering new benefits to employees who are about to vote. See National Labor Relations Board v. Exchange Parts Corporation, 1964 (375 U.S. 405 (1964)) and related cases for a discussion of this rule. The American Women's Association accused us of trying to comply with the law by pretending it didn't exist.
This is not the first possible union dissolution action by Activision Blizzard against Raven QA employees. A few days after the Game Workers Alliance voted for formation, Activision Blizzard reorganized its QA divisions, placing QA personnel in teams across the divisions. By dividing the QA division into teams, Activision Blizzard could isolate organizers, undermining communication and cohesion. While this process is common in video game developer organizations, CWA said: "[This] is just a strategy to prevent Raven QA employees from exercising their organizational rights."
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard
Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) is an American game developer, publisher and distributor named after the merger of Activision, Inc. in 2008 by Activision, Inc. Currently, Activision Blizzard is the world's largest game developer and publisher.
Activision Blizzard's main business continues Activision's model. Many Chinese players know Activision from the merger of Activision and Vivendi Games (a subsidiary of the Vivendi Group). In fact, before the merger with Vivendi Games, Activision was the world's second largest third-party video game producer and publisher after EA, and game masterpieces such as the Call of Duty series and the Guitar Heroes series were developed by this company.
Founded: 2008
Headquarters: Santa Monica, California, USA
Representative works: Call of Duty series, Ancient Wolf series, Spyro series, World of Warcraft