A group of employees at the Activision Blizzard studio that works on the Call of Duty franchise said they had formed a union and would seek voluntary recognition from the company, signalling labor's first foothold at the video game giant.
The Communications Workers of America supports the union's efforts to represent 34 people in the quality assurance department at Raven Software.
Activision said it was considering the matter. The National Labor Relations Board NLRB Activision's stock has been battered in recent months due to the company's multiple accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct, and Microsoft Corp has announced plans to acquire the company at: www.reuters.com. As criticism has mounted in recent months of Activision Blizzard's culture, workers have banded together to influence the company's future, including staging a walkout and circulating a petition calling for the removal of Chief Executive Bobby Kotick.
According to Jessica Gonzalez, a former Activision employee, as well as a current employee who spoke on condition of anonymity, unionization has emerged as a goal for some, and workers in other parts of Activision Blizzard are also signing union cards.
On a quality assurance tester at Raven, Onah Rongstad said that they hope to be able to guide other parts of Activision Blizzard that want to follow in our footsteps.
Activision Blizzard said in a statement that it is carefully reviewing the request for voluntary recognition.
While we believe that the company and its team members deliver the strongest workforce opportunities, we deeply respect the rights of all employees under the law to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union, the company said.
Rongstad said that if Activision Blizzard does not recognize the union, workers plan to hold an election sponsored by the NLRB.
Workers on Raven's quality assurance team began striking in December after learning that 12 of their colleagues had been laid off, Rongstad said.
By joining a union, the workers hope to gain more of a say in decision-making at the company as well as help set their working conditions. When deadlines are approaching, Raven QA testers work up to 50 to 60 hour weeks.