Of 28 eligible voters, 19 voted for and 3 voted against Monday. Activision has recognized the result of the vote, ensuring “respecting” the right of employees to vote for a union.
Le Monde with AFP
The employees of a team from the American publisher of video games Activision Blizzard, which distributes the flagship titles “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft”, voted Monday, May 23 in favor of the creation of ‘A union, a first within the company. This small team specializing in quality insurance at Raven Software, a subsidiary of Activision, will be represented by the Communications Workers of America union. Some employees began to mobilize at the end of 2021, hiring a five -week strike after the dismissal of twelve employees.
It was then the third work stoppage decided by the employees since the appearance, in July 2021, of a series of accusations of discrimination and harassment against the management, recalls the union in a statement. The employees officially gathered at the start of the year under the name of the alliance of video game workers (Game Workers Alliance-Cwa).
a recognized vote but nuanced by Activision
“Our greatest hope is that our union serves as inspiration for the growing movement of workers who organize themselves in video game studios to create better games and build workplaces that reflect our values and give us more of weight, “said the organization after his victory.
In the video game sector, CWA has also helped the creation of unions in the Vodeo Games and Paizo studios. Activision, in the process of being bought by Microsoft, recognized the result of the vote according to the France-Presse agency. However, adds the company, “we believe that an important decision, which affects all 350 employees of the Raven Software studio, should not be taken by 19 Raven employees”.
Several large multinationals, including Starbucks, Apple or Amazon, are currently facing the United States for a unionization campaign.