As reported by the Washington Submit, the Nationwide Labor Relations Board has dominated that Raven Software program’s 21-person High quality Assurance unit can transfer ahead with a vote to unionize.
Activision Blizzard had beforehand contested the transfer with the argument that any potential union ought to embody the entire roughly 230 staff throughout the divisions of Raven Software program, one of many builders behind the favored Name of Obligation sequence.
The NLRB rejected that logic, and all full and part-time QA employees at Raven have till Might 20 to return their ballots, with a rely happening on Might 23. Raven studio head Brian Raffel indicated to workers that the corporate would host a city corridor concerning the method.
Members of Raven QA initially walked out in December to protest the corporate not renewing the contracts of 11 QA employees, a good portion of the unit, they usually had been later joined by members of different Activision Blizzard studios.
Raven QA staff fashioned a union, the Sport Staff Alliance, in January and subsequently ended their strike. Absent voluntary recognition by Activision Blizzard, the method proceeded underneath NLRB oversight.
We’re happy that after reviewing the proof, the Nationwide Labor Relations Board rejected Raven Software program administration’s makes an attempt to undermine our efforts to kind a union. It’s now time for Raven administration to cease attempting to forestall us from exercising our rights.April 23, 2022
Earlier this month, Activision Blizzard transformed 1,000 part-time QA staff to full time and raised the bottom pay of QA staff throughout all of its studios besides Raven. The NLRB prohibits giving advantages or pay will increase to staff within the midst of a union drive, an try to forestall employers from utilizing such measures to sway an election.
All the identical, the timing of the company-wide transfer was actually unlucky for Raven’s QA staff. If the union drive is profitable, this may little doubt be a excessive precedence for them in negotiating their first contract.
