Blizzard Albany QA workers join Raven Software in forming a union
On Tuesday evening, the Blizzard Albany QA department announced that they are working with Communications Workers of America – the union organizers who have been helping Raven and other workers in the games industry – to form a union at their workplace.
“Today, we announce a new union at Activision Blizzard,” the newly-created GWA (Game Workers Alliance) Albany account tweeted on Tuesday. “QA is currently an undervalued discipline in the games and software industries. We strive to foster work environments where we are respected and compensated for our essential role in the development process.”
GWA Albany organized in the wake of their QA peers at Raven Software successfully managing a unionization vote in their own shop. These workers fought for months to be able to establish this union, but it has paved the way for others within the Activision Blizzard King studio ecosystem.
According to the GWA Albany Twitter thread, the QA workers who are organizing are “committed to fostering an open, diverse & equitable workplace.” The thread goes on to say that these workers “demand an environment where our skills, ideals, & democratic decisions are valued and respected,” before listing the group’s actionable demands to Activision Blizzard King.
GWA Albany’s demands are as follow:
- Competitive & fair compensation, pay transparency, better benefits & improved health care coverage.
- Address disparities in titles and compensation to accurately recognize our contributions & responsibilities.
- Establish transparent processes & lines of communication for addressing all workplace issues, including misconduct and retaliation.
- Improve the work-life balance of our workers, including establishing reasonable protocols to address demands of “crunch” time.
“We at Blizzard Albany pride ourselves on our craft and our culture. With a union, we will finally have a seat at the table for negotiating our futures” the GWA Albany account wrote. “We ask that @ATVI_AB voluntarily recognize our union & respect our right to organize without retaliation or interference.”
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