Activision Blizzard Has Withheld Raises Form Their QA Workers At Raven Software Due To Unionization ‘Legal Obligations’

The saga continues as the National Labor Relations Board’s recent investigation has brought to light that Activision Blizzard has withheld raises from QA testers at Raven Software. Activision Blizzard has been undergoing union bargaining negotiations with QA workers who voted to unionize earlier this year at Raven for several months now.

If the workers and the company can’t agree on terms, the NLRB could issue a compliant or, if the company refuses to settle, the board could prosecute the case before a federal judge. “It’s part of their tactics, you know, hit them wherever they can, to put pressure on the company in order to reach an agreement with them and to stop violating the law,” explained Wilma Liebman, former chairman of the NLRB.

A complaint made in June stated that Activision Blizzard discriminated and retaliated against current and former QA testers for their union activity in many ways. To start, 12 quality assurance testers were laid off and the studio was reorganized to remove the QA department all the while withholding benefits and soliciting grievances. The NLRB is still investigating other parts of the complaint.

On Monday, the CWA filed an amended version of the initial complaint it made in June, this time alleging that the company continues to violate and go against labor laws by keeping the studio reorganized without a QA department. It then went on to add that the company withheld raises from the Raven Software workers and announced the withholding was due to the union activity.

A current Raven Software employee had this to say in regard to everything that has happened thus far, “The company’s anti-union messaging has been disappointingly effective, and I think the bigger victory for us than getting the pay increase would be having Activision admit that what they did was unlawful.”

Credit: The Washington Post.

Note: Activision Blizzard is still under investigation by the state of California for serious harassment charges. CEO Bobby Kotick is alleged to have known about such actions within his company – and performed some himself – and shielded the perpetrators from consequences.