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Blizzard Albany QA testers are fighting to unioniseFollowing in Raven QA’s footsteps
Following in Raven QA’s footsteps
Quality assurance testers at Blizzard Albany have publicly announced their intention to unionise. Organising under the name GWA Albany, the team of around 20 employees is asking parent company Activision Blizzard to voluntarily recognise the union.
“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,” wroteGWA Albany on Twitteron Tuesday. The employee organisation intends to fight for competitive pay, improved healthcare and improvements to work-life balance, among other issues.
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“Raven has been a huge inspiration to us,” Laven said. “Seeing their process, it’s been demystifying to see them do it first and have an idea of how things go and how the company might respond. We’ve already gotten to see someone do it in our own company, and they’ve been very forthcoming with us talking to us about what things are like and what problems they encountered.”
Activision Blizzard attempted to frustrate Raven’s QA staff’s attempts at organising. Bloombergreportedthat the National Labor Relations Board would issue a complaint regarding Activision Blizzard’s conduct, with a government spokesperson saying prosecutors determined the company illegally threatened staff. Activision Blizzard denied any wrongdoing.
“We deeply respect the rights of all employees under the law to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union,” wrote Activision Blizzard spokesperson Rich George in a statement given to the Washington Post. “We believe that a direct relationship between the company and its employees is the most productive relationship. The company will be publicly and formally providing a response to the petition to the NLRB.”
