A group of roughly 600 Activision Publishing quality assurance workers have formed the nation’s largest video game industry union. Backed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the bargaining unit is the first to organize at Activision under the labor neutrality agreement between the CWA and Microsoft, which went into effect after the company acquired Activision Blizzard last October. Under the terms of the agreement, all Activision Blizzard workers are free to discuss and begin working towards unionizing. As an independent company, Activision Blizzard pushed back hard against any attempts by employees to organize, whereas Microsoft has agreed to remain neutral. The new QA workers’ bargaining unit includes Activision employees in California, Texas, and Minnesota. The CWA now represents more than 1,000 video game workers at Microsoft. The group’s unionizing feels particularly important given the current upheaval in the gaming industry which resulted in more than 8,000 games industry workers being laid off in the first two months of this year. Microsoft was one of the biggest contributors to that figure, laying off 1,900 employees in January, most of them from its Activision Blizzard teams. In a release, Communications Workers of America president Claude Cummings Jr. praised Microsoft for its continuing philosophy of voluntarily recognizing its workers’ unionization efforts: Microsoft continues to keep its commitment to let workers decide for themselves whether they want a union. Time and again, other big companies in the industry have made the decision to undermine and attack their own employees when they join together to form a union. Microsoft’s choice will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers and should serve as a model for the industry. Amy Pannoni, vp and deputy general counsel of human resources legal at Microsoft, added: We maintained our commitment to remain neutral during the organizing campaign, and following this vote, we recognize the Communications Workers of America (CWA) as the bargaining representative for the Activision Publishing Central Quality Assurance employees. We look forward to continuing our positive labor management relationship. Source link Employees At ‘Call Of Duty’ Developer Activision Establish U.S.’s Largest Certified Video Game Unionhttps://lnkd.in/dw7XakNy
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About 600 workers at Activision Publishing, the video game maker owned by Microsoft, are unionizing, forming the largest video game workers’ union in the United States, the Communications Workers of America said on Friday. Microsoft recognized the union after the vote count was finalized. The employees work in quality assurance, testing Activision’s games for bugs, glitches and other defects, and 390 of them voted to form a union, while eight opposed the effort, the union said. About 200 workers did not vote. Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, the maker of Call of Duty and other blockbusters, for $69 billion in October. As part of its lengthy effort to convince regulators to approve the deal, Microsoft signed a first-of-its-kind pact in the industry to remain neutral if workers wanted to unionize with the C.W.A. Managers were trained not to express an opinion about whether unionization was good or bad, and the C.W.A. said Activision’s management upheld the pact and did not interfere in the workers’ organizing efforts. “That has been, organizing-wise, a huge blessing,” said Kara Fannon, a member of the union organizing committee who works for Activision near Minneapolis. “It has helped with a lot of people who were concerned about union busting or potential retaliation.” The new union is the first at Activision since the pact went into effect. “Microsoft’s choice will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers and should serve as a model for the industry,” C.W.A.’s president, Claude Cummings Jr., said in a statement. The largest group of employees is in Minnesota, though the union also includes offices in Texas and California. The union’s hopes include negotiating higher pay, improving job security and providing more advancement opportunities for the quality assurance testers, whose perform some of the lowest-paid work in game development. The pact also meant workers were able to sidestep the lengthy and often contentious process of petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for an election. Instead, they used an expedited process, where workers indicated their support or opposition for the union by either signing a union authorization card or voting confidentially online in a portal that opened Feb. 22 and closed on Thursday afternoon. A third-party arbiter, Fred Horowitz, verified the results. After the vote count, Amy Pannoni, a deputy general counsel at Microsoft, said in a statement that the company looked forward to “continuing our positive labor management relationship,” and that it recognized C.W.A. “as the bargaining representative for the Activision Publishing central quality assurance employees.” Workers had been organizing at Activision since at least 2021, when employees across the company staged a walkout after a California civil rights agency sued the company for workplace sexual misconduct. (The company settled the case on narrower grounds
About 600 Workers Unionize at Microsoft-Owned Activision
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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: 600 Activision QA workers just formed the biggest videogame union in the US -First reported by The Verge, 600 Activision QA workers have formed a new union at the publisher. It was organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA), like other unions at the company, and this new union is now the largest in the American gaming industry, surpassing the 300-person Zenimax Workers United, a fellow CWA... First reported by The Verge, 600 Activision QA workers have formed a new union at the publisher. It was organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA), like other unions at the company, and this new union is now the largest in the American gaming industry, surpassing the 300-person Zenimax Workers United, a fellow CWA union at another Microsoft subsidiary.Microsoft notably entered into a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA in 2022 as union organizing efforts across the industry, but especially at Activision Blizzard-owned studios, were getting into full swing. It was an important victory for the CWA, but also a strategic move by Microsoft in its years-long (and ultimately successful) campaign to seal the deal on its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.That agreement seems to have helped these Activision QA workers quickly and cleanly form their union at the company, but it's not like the house Bill Gates built is a worker's paradise or anything just yet: this successful union effort comes a little over a month after the stunning layoffs of 1,900 Activision Blizzard employees by Microsoft.Still, it's heartening to see continued successful union organizing in the industry, especially since union protections are one of the most effective bulwarks against mass layoffs that workers can pursue. I also do feel like I gotta hand it to Microsoft here in the face of how other massive companies are responding to union activity, like Amazon, SpaceX, and Trader Joe's arguing that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional. Source link
600 Activision QA workers just formed the biggest videogame union in the US
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New Post: 600 Activision QA workers just formed the biggest videogame union in the US -First reported by The Verge, 600 Activision QA workers have formed a new union at the publisher. It was organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA), like other unions at the company, and this new union is now the largest in the American gaming industry, surpassing the 300-person Zenimax Workers United, a fellow CWA... First reported by The Verge, 600 Activision QA workers have formed a new union at the publisher. It was organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA), like other unions at the company, and this new union is now the largest in the American gaming industry, surpassing the 300-person Zenimax Workers United, a fellow CWA union at another Microsoft subsidiary.Microsoft notably entered into a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA in 2022 as union organizing efforts across the industry, but especially at Activision Blizzard-owned studios, were getting into full swing. It was an important victory for the CWA, but also a strategic move by Microsoft in its years-long (and ultimately successful) campaign to seal the deal on its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.That agreement seems to have helped these Activision QA workers quickly and cleanly form their union at the company, but it's not like the house Bill Gates built is a worker's paradise or anything just yet: this successful union effort comes a little over a month after the stunning layoffs of 1,900 Activision Blizzard employees by Microsoft.Still, it's heartening to see continued successful union organizing in the industry, especially since union protections are one of the most effective bulwarks against mass layoffs that workers can pursue. I also do feel like I gotta hand it to Microsoft here in the face of how other massive companies are responding to union activity, like Amazon, SpaceX, and Trader Joe's arguing that the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional. Source link
600 Activision QA workers just formed the biggest videogame union in the US
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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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The #gaminglayoffs narrative isn't subsiding, but maybe there's some hope coming from #unionization. Maybe the #gamingindustry model is just changing to something more akin to the film industry. I mean, #AAAgames are just movies we control, aren't they? My friends who work in film and TV have been part of the "gig economy" for years before that became a buzzword. They also have unions that help them out and protect them. Therein lies the challenge. Would US gaming studios look at hiring talent from a union labor pool as an industry practice? Would companies like Playstation or EA consider taking in union animators and designers? I know someone will read this, scream #socialism, and say that if unions happen in gaming our favorite titles will become too expensive to make. Will they though? With so much automation and AI tech coming to the industry to take on repetitive tasks, will unionization make the next #Arkham or #CoD launch cost $300? Granted, many are already blaming AI for the job losses across tech sectors. AI negotiations were one of the reasons the Hollywood writer's strike dragged on so long. Maybe unions and new tech can actually lead to some sort of balance regarding hiring volume. Europe and Canada are doing it. Why not here? What do y'all think? Am I thinking too pie-in-the-sky? https://lnkd.in/ePge-wxg
The game studios changing the industry by unionizing
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It's claimed the company has refused to negotiate with union representatives since announcing the cuts. 🔴 The Next Big Wave Of Video Game Layoffs Is Here 🌊: Studios big and small are laying off game developers 🎮. To ensure your studio can keep production costs down and profits up, consider kaedim3d.com for AI that turns images into models in minutes ⏰. Use code A836A7X to get 1 month of Kaedim’s starter plan free (up to 10 credits) 🆓. If you’ve already searched for a 3D AI generator, you know that Kaedim alternatives will only leave you with unusable meshes and wasted time ⌛. Kaedim’s image to 3D AI engine can be used with Unreal Engine, Unity, Omniverse, and Blender or via API for seamless integration into your workflow 🔄. The best part about 2D to 3D AI is that you now have unparalleled access to allow user-generated content like never before 👥. Used by more than 200 studios, Kaedim’s 3d model AI generator adds levels of quality control to provide the best 2d sketch to 3d model option on the market 🏆. Remember to use code A836A7X on Kaedim’s Starter Plan for 10 credits for new customers 🎁. You will not find a comparable AI 2D to 3d converter 🔍.
Report: Blizzard is laying off almost 140 workers in Ireland
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