New Post: Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union -Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted... Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted and certified the results on Friday, forming the Activision Quality Assurance United – CWA union. Quality assurance workers test games for bugs and they’re often the entry level for getting jobs as game developers. Previously, the CWA reached a labor neutrality agreement in 2022 with Microsoft, which now owns the company with its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Tom Shelley, a technical requirements specialist and one of Activision Quality Assurance United’s organizers, told the Verge that the labor neutrality agreement and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year made their goals of unionizing easier to accomplish. GB Event GamesBeat Summit Call for Speakers We’re thrilled to open our call for speakers to our flagship event, GamesBeat Summit 2024 hosted in Los Angeles, where we will explore the theme of “Resilience and Adaption”. Apply to speak here Microsoft recognized the union and previous recognized a union of 300 QA workers at ZeniMax Online. Activision Blizzard also has unions at Blizzard in Albany and Raven Software in Wisconsin. All of this is happening at a time when the game industry is seeing record layoffs — 8,000 so far this year and 10,500 in 2023. The workers are spread out across California, Texas and Minnesota. All told, the CWA represents more than 1,000 Microsoft workers. Workers have been organizing at Activision since 2021. At that time, the state of California sued (in a now settled case) for widespread sexual misconduct. VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings. Source link
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New Post: Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union -Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted... Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted and certified the results on Friday, forming the Activision Quality Assurance United – CWA union. Quality assurance workers test games for bugs and they’re often the entry level for getting jobs as game developers. Previously, the CWA reached a labor neutrality agreement in 2022 with Microsoft, which now owns the company with its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Tom Shelley, a technical requirements specialist and one of Activision Quality Assurance United’s organizers, told the Verge that the labor neutrality agreement and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year made their goals of unionizing easier to accomplish. GB Event GamesBeat Summit Call for Speakers We’re thrilled to open our call for speakers to our flagship event, GamesBeat Summit 2024 hosted in Los Angeles, where we will explore the theme of “Resilience and Adaption”. Apply to speak here Microsoft recognized the union and previous recognized a union of 300 QA workers at ZeniMax Online. Activision Blizzard also has unions at Blizzard in Albany and Raven Software in Wisconsin. All of this is happening at a time when the game industry is seeing record layoffs — 8,000 so far this year and 10,500 in 2023. The workers are spread out across California, Texas and Minnesota. All told, the CWA represents more than 1,000 Microsoft workers. Workers have been organizing at Activision since 2021. At that time, the state of California sued (in a now settled case) for widespread sexual misconduct. VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings. Source link
Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union
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New Post: Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union -Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted... Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted and certified the results on Friday, forming the Activision Quality Assurance United – CWA union. Quality assurance workers test games for bugs and they’re often the entry level for getting jobs as game developers. Previously, the CWA reached a labor neutrality agreement in 2022 with Microsoft, which now owns the company with its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Tom Shelley, a technical requirements specialist and one of Activision Quality Assurance United’s organizers, told the Verge that the labor neutrality agreement and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year made their goals of unionizing easier to accomplish. GB Event GamesBeat Summit Call for Speakers We’re thrilled to open our call for speakers to our flagship event, GamesBeat Summit 2024 hosted in Los Angeles, where we will explore the theme of “Resilience and Adaption”. Apply to speak here Microsoft recognized the union and previous recognized a union of 300 QA workers at ZeniMax Online. Activision Blizzard also has unions at Blizzard in Albany and Raven Software in Wisconsin. All of this is happening at a time when the game industry is seeing record layoffs — 8,000 so far this year and 10,500 in 2023. The workers are spread out across California, Texas and Minnesota. All told, the CWA represents more than 1,000 Microsoft workers. Workers have been organizing at Activision since 2021. At that time, the state of California sued (in a now settled case) for widespread sexual misconduct. VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings. Source link
Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union
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New Post: Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union -Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted... Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the gaming industry’s top leaders? Learn more about GamesBeat Summit sponsorship opportunities here. An estimated 600 workers at Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have formed the biggest union for gaming in the U.S. With the help of the Communications Workers of America, the employees voted and certified the results on Friday, forming the Activision Quality Assurance United – CWA union. Quality assurance workers test games for bugs and they’re often the entry level for getting jobs as game developers. Previously, the CWA reached a labor neutrality agreement in 2022 with Microsoft, which now owns the company with its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Tom Shelley, a technical requirements specialist and one of Activision Quality Assurance United’s organizers, told the Verge that the labor neutrality agreement and Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year made their goals of unionizing easier to accomplish. GB Event GamesBeat Summit Call for Speakers We’re thrilled to open our call for speakers to our flagship event, GamesBeat Summit 2024 hosted in Los Angeles, where we will explore the theme of “Resilience and Adaption”. Apply to speak here Microsoft recognized the union and previous recognized a union of 300 QA workers at ZeniMax Online. Activision Blizzard also has unions at Blizzard in Albany and Raven Software in Wisconsin. All of this is happening at a time when the game industry is seeing record layoffs — 8,000 so far this year and 10,500 in 2023. The workers are spread out across California, Texas and Minnesota. All told, the CWA represents more than 1,000 Microsoft workers. Workers have been organizing at Activision since 2021. At that time, the state of California sued (in a now settled case) for widespread sexual misconduct. VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings. Source link
Activision Publishing’s 600 QA workers form union
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all… ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #Gamers #MobileGames #VideoGameDevelopment #GameIndustry #VideoGameIndustry
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all managers… ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #Gaming #UnrealEngine #GameIndustry #VideoGameIndustry #IndieGames
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all… ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #IndieGameDev #GameDesign #GamingIndustry #GameIndustryUpdates #IndieGame
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all managers were…⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #GameIndustryUpdates #GamingUpdates #GameDesign #Gaming #gamedev
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all managers were… ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #IndieGame #Gaming #Games #GameDevelopment #VideoGameIndustry
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all managers… ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #Gamers #GamingUpdates #GameIndustryUpdates #GameDesign #UnrealEngine
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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🚨 Kaedim3d.com is HIRING 🚨 Send resumes to recruiting3d@kaedim.com Photo: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images This will be the largest video game union in the country yet Hundreds of Activision quality assurance workers are unionizing with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union covers approximately 600 Activision central QA workers across three locations: Austin, Texas; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and El Segundo, Calif. This makes the union, called Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA, the largest group of unionized video game workers in the U.S. The final vote is tallied at 390 votes “yes” and eight votes “no.” “Something we organized around is that in this industry, QA and customer service are the lowest paid jobs, and often looked down upon either within the industry or by customers,” Activision QA tester and organizing committee member Kara Fannon told Polygon. “It’s easy for people to say to QA, ‘Oh, I found a bug,’ even though we logged tens of thousands of bugs. So why is QA [unionizing], as opposed to other people in the industry? We have the weakest protections currently and we want to make sure that we’re strong so our work can keep going the way it is — we want to be supporting these games and working really hard on them.” Activision Quality Assurance United - CWA members work on games published by Activision Publishing, including franchises like Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater. The group joins unionized Microsoft and Activision Blizzard employees at Blizzard Albany, Raven Software, and ZeniMax. The Blizzard Albany and Raven Software unions were brought under Microsoft with the company’s $68.7 billion Activision Blizzard merger. Previously, ZeniMax Workers United was the largest group of video game industry QA workers at Microsoft and across companies in the U.S. with more than 300 workers. Like the organizing efforts at ZeniMax, Activision QA workers reportedly did not face the union-busting tactics that were alleged to have occurred during Blizzard Albany and Raven Software’s union campaigns. That’s because Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with CWA in 2022, which is basically a contract that says Microsoft must stay neutral in all union interactions. Agreements like this are not common, Risa Lieberwitz, professor of Labor Law and Employment Law at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor and Relations and academic director for IRL’s The Worker Institute, told Polygon in 2023 after ZeniMax’s union win. “Now under Microsoft with the neutrality agreement they signed with CWA, it’s a lot easier,” Fannon said. “We don’t have to be concerned about any form of union-busting tactics. Microsoft made sure all managers were… ⭐ The world's best game studios ship 7x faster with Kaedim3d.com - try it today to turn sketches into game assets in minutes #gdc #gdc2024 #a16z #VideoGames #Gaming #GameNews #GameDesign #GameIndustryUpdates
600 Activision QA workers unionize, Microsoft voluntarily recognizes
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