Efforts to unionize have been rapidly increasing in the video game industry. Some of the hardest workers that have been some of the most disrespected and least paid are now taking up the fight to improve their working conditions and pay. The latest unionization efforts once again come from Quality Assurance Testers within the Activision umbrella.
The Blizzard Albany studio, formerly known as Vicarious Visions, filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday that will potentially see the 20-person staff of QA Testers at the Call of Duty support studio form a new union within Activision Blizzard. This step is only the beginning of the road to unionization that could end with a majority vote in favor of unionization.
Off the heels of the Raven Software QA Testers winning their unionization vote, Blizzard Albany aims to be the next group of unionized workers in gaming. A statement to The Washington Post from Amanda Laven, Associate Test Analyst at Blizzard Albany, stated that they were inspired by the efforts of the Raven QA Testers as well as nationwide unionization efforts at Starbucks stores and Amazon warehouses. Under the name Game Workers Alliance Albany, they also have confidence that their efforts will be additional motivation for others in the video game industry to continue the unionization wave.
Activision Blizzard might make this easy for Blizzard Albany, as it didn't with the Raven Software QA Testers. Blizzard Albany workers could potentially be subjected to carefully worded union-busting tactics that Activision was accused of taking up in the past, which could cause division within the Blizzard Albany ranks and see the unionization effort fail. Activision spokesperson Rich George told the Post that the company "...deeply respect the rights of all employees under the law to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union." Activision Blizzard however might not recognize the union and Game Workers Alliance Albany will likely have to go through all the slow steps toward unionization that the Raven QA Testers also went through before getting to the negotiating table.
Even as Activision Blizzard may slow down the process, Microsoft has already said that it will work with unionized employees. The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft is nearing finalization and will see some new faces in charge of overseeing the efforts to right the ship at the embattled publisher. Along with unionization efforts, the company will have to deal with the remaining state and federal lawsuits, and the many games and studios it will have to manage once the deal is complete.
Source: Washington Post