.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1100&h=618&dpr=1.5)
Activision Blizzard has had a very strained relationship with the Quality Assurance staff at Raven Software as of late. Activision Blizzard had been actively discouraging Raven Software employees from forming a union, and now it seems as though one of the higher-ups at Activision sent a message explicitly informing employees that joining the union would be to their detriment.
The Vice President of Quality Assurance at Activision, Christian Arends, recently sent a message via the company Slack in a channel that would not allow staff to reply. The message was in the format of a question and answer with Arends answering questions as though an employee was asking them. Arends began the message by first stating that the company respects employees' NLRA rights to have discussions about unionization and supports their rights to do so.
The ironic part of this message is that only a week ago Activision Blizzard refused to recognize the Raven Software Union. Some of the most important parts of the message were the fact that Arends described that no employees who formed part of the union would receive any special treatment and will still be subject to the same policies and practices. Arends then went on to state that while the company respected the employees' right to strike, they refused to agree to their demands.
https://twitter.com/_TechJess/status/148821643718953779
Arends then stated that by joining the Raven Software Union, employees would not be ensured to have "extra" job security. The message explained that job security at the company relies on the employees' ability to produce world-class games and that the extra processes involved with unionization could then hurt the company's ability to produce said quality products.
Activision Blizzard’s Chief Administrative Officer Brian Bulatao also sent out an email in December discouraging employees from forming a union. Arends also stated in his message that joining a union complicates matters when an individual employee would like to see changes, as he mentioned that the bargaining model draws things out. In a final attempt to discourage employees from joining the union, the last point of Arends' message informed employees that they would not have to vote for the union as the ballots would be secret.
Activision Blizzard seems to be doing everything in its power to attempt to stop employees from joining the union even though the company has been under constant scrutiny for its company culture. In July last year, the Activision Blizzard even specifically hired a law firm with a well-known reputation for union-busting.
