Activision Blizzard Workers Form First Union at a Major U.S. Gaming Company

Last week, quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard division Raven Software formed the first union at a major U.S. gaming company, comprising their 34-member unit. But this week, the gaming giant — which is slated to be acquired by Microsoft for $67.8 billion, and which over the past six months has faced serious allegations of enabling sexual misconduct, harassment, and a toxic culture — announced that it will not voluntarily recognize the union, and revealed their plans for union-busting.

The union responded: "We, the supermajority of workers at Raven QA, are proud to be confidently filing our petition with the NLRB for our union election. We are deeply disappointed that Raven Software and Activision Blizzard refused to uplift workers rights by choosing to not voluntarily recognize our union in spite of our supermajority support."

"This was an opportunity for Activision Blizzard to show a real commitment setting new and improved standards for workers. Instead, Activision Blizzard has chosen to make a rushed restructuring announcement to try and hinder our right to organize. Once again, when management is given a choice, they always seem to take the low road. However, we are proud to file with the NLRB as we enjoy supermajority support for our union and know that together, we will gain the formal legal recognition we have earned." Follow the Game Workers Alliance on Twitter!