Blizzard Albany’s QA team voted to unionize in a nearly unanimous decision, The Washington Post reports, marking the end of a year-long effort and several attempts from Activision Blizzard to delay the vote. The vote was 14-0, with 18 members eligible to take part. Kotaku reports that one vote was disqualified, and Blizzard challenged three more.
The Communication Workers of America will represent Blizzard Albany, and the unit joins the QA unit at sister studio Raven Software in the Game Workers Alliance.
“We knew we were gonna win, but it’s still extremely exciting and gratifying, especially because tomorrow marks the first anniversary of when we started organizing,” Amanda Laven, a QA tester in the Albany division said in a statement to the Post.
The vote comes after Activision Blizzard made attempts to delay or halt the process, citing concerns that the entire company should be allowed to vote on whether to form a union. Labor analysts previously told the Post that such tactics are often used in the hope of diluting the voting pool and preventing organization.
Both the QA unit and Blizzard have five days to appeal the vote, and Blizzard already told employees they may seek other avenues to impede the unit’s organization.
“It is more fair and valid if the whole team has an opportunity to decide,” Blizzard leadership said again in an email to employees, according to the Post.
One Blizzard Albany employee who works in a different division told reporter Shannon Liao they were glad the QA team voted to unionize, since QA testers are almost always paid significantly less than their colleagues in other departments, and not just at Activision Blizzard.
“Unionization is an important step to countering the rampant greed that plagues the upper echelons of the tech industry, our government and the world at large,” they said.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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