Activision Union Bid Will Go to a Vote, Labor Board Orders

Josh Eidelson and Cecilia D'Anastasio
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(Bloomberg) -- Quality assurance testers for Activision Blizzard Inc. will vote next month on unionizing, a U.S. labor board official ordered Friday.

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The group of around 21 workers at the company’s Raven studio in Wisconsin will be mailed ballots on April 29, according to the ruling from the National Labor Relations Board’s Minneapolis regional director Jennifer Hadsall. The decision comes after Activision Blizzard declined to voluntarily recognize Raven Software’s union.

Raven Software is a subsidiary of games-entertainment behemoth Activision Blizzard, which announced in January that it would be acquired by Microsoft Corp. for $68.7 billion. The Raven employees perform quality-assurance testing for video games like Call of Duty to ensure they function smoothly. Workers there moved to unionize after news of job cuts in December 2021, which preceded weeks of strikes. Turmoil also followed an explosive complaint from California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing accusing Activision Blizzard of fostering a “bro culture” of sexism.

The company had argued that the workers’ election petition should be dismissed because they were a “workforce in flux” undergoing a reorganization and that any election should instead cover hundreds of employees in dozens of job classifications, meaning the union would have needed much more support to prevail. In her ruling, Hadsall rejected the company’s arguments, writing that the quality assurance testers share a “community of interest” and that there was “no evidence that QA testers are being eliminated or that their role would fundamentally change” due to reorganization.

“While we respect the NLRB process, we are disappointed that a decision that could significantly impact the future of our entire studio will be made by fewer than 10% of our employees,” a spokesperson for Activision said in statement. “We are reviewing legal options regarding a potential appeal.”

Workers will vote on joining the Communications Workers of America, the same union organizing at Alphabet Inc. and at an Apple Store in Georgia.

In an emailed statement from CWA, employees said, “It’s now time for Raven management to stop trying to prevent us from exercising our rights. We are looking forward to voting for -- and winning -- our union.”

Activision Blizzard spokespeople and executives have stated several times that they respect employees’ right to unionize. However, the company has also faced allegations of union-busting. In January, Activision Blizzard reorganized Raven Software workers, embedding them in specific departments like “audio” and “design” in a move Communications Workers of America director Tom Smith referred to as “a tactic to thwart Raven QA workers who are exercising their right to organize.”

The company said the move had begun late 2021 and was intended to boost efficiency.

Activision Blizzard also converted 1,100 game testers to full-time employees early April and increased their minimum salary. The workers at Raven Software didn’t receive the same pay initiative. The company cited “legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act.”

The Activision campaign comes amid a surge of organizing in tech, including successful recent union representation votes among Amazon.com Inc. warehouse workers and sub-contracted Alphabet Inc. retail staff.

Unions are rare among games companies in the U.S.. The first, at independent studio Vodeo Games, was announced last December.

(Updates with emailed statement from CWA in seventh paragraph)

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