Today, employees of Activision Blizzard studio Raven Software voted to become the second North American video game league. The Game Workers Alliance is made up of a group of quality assurance testers who have been fighting for better working conditions. The unions’ efforts began late last year, and Activision Blizzard has been accused of undermining those efforts ever since. The company voluntarily refused to recognize GWA, prompting today’s vote. Quality Assurance testers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the unions, by a margin of 19 to 3, with two papers without objection.
In a video shared by More Perfect Union in March, members of the Game Workers Alliance discuss their reasons for joining unions and the difficulties QA testers face in the video game industry. Employees mentioned a 14-hour working day Call of Duty: Black Ops III7-8 hour virtual reality testing sessions, plus low salaries. The embedded video can be found below.
New: Workers testing video games such as Call of Duty for Raven Software/ Activision Blizzard are calling for an end to exploitation.
They work 14 hours a day for poor pay. Some are listed on food stamps and have vision damage.
Now they are unions and could revolutionize the industry. pic.twitter.com/noLeVb0PWL
MorePerfectUS March 24, 2022
The formation of the GWA comes at a time when union efforts are beginning to intensify across the country, as workers struggle for better treatment from their employers. Activision Blizzard isn’t the only company accused of undermining union efforts; Companies like Amazon and Starbucks have also been accused of holding back on these attempts, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk He recently cited Democrats’ support for unions as a negative.
Microsoft announced plans to buy Activision Blizzard earlier this year. In an interview with The Washington Post back in MarchLisa Tanzi, Microsoft’s vice president, told the outlets that the company “respects the right of Activision Blizzard employees to choose whether to be represented by a labor organization, and we will honor those decisions.” The success of GWA could lead to other union efforts in the company and around the industry. The terms described by GWA in the video above are not exclusive to Activision Blizzard; Crisis and poor working conditions are a very real problem for the gaming industry. Hope this helps turn things around!
How do you feel about Game Workers Alliance? Are you glad that the vote passed? Tell us in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at Tweet embed To talk about all things gaming!
[H/T: The Verge]
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