Raven Software Files Union Election Request After Recognition Window Goes Unanswered By Activision Blizzard

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.

Despite Acquisition Blizzard electing not to recognize Raven Software’s request to recognize the formation of the Game Workers Alliance Union by this past Tuesday, attempts to formalize are still moving forward. Instead, the Raven Software workers are filing a union election request with the National Labor Relation Board. The GWA announced plans to file their petition with the NRLB yesterday evening, following an email from Activision Blizzard indicating that the company would “respond formally” to such a petition being filed and indicated that instead, they would prefer for a studio-wide vote, something Raven organizers claim is being used to "drown out" voices.

For the GWA to be formalized, the NLRB requires that a supermajority of workers at Raven Software vote to create the union. According to the GWA, this won’t be a problem. Activision Blizzard, on the other hand, seems to be taking the whole thing far less seriously, instead making announcements about embedding the QA testers at Raven Software into the various departments in the studio, ostensibly giving QA staff more of a presence in the company. The GWA believes this is just an attempt to make organizing more difficult for the staff in question.