Protesting Activision Blizzard Employees Excluded From Raises
About 1,100 temporary workers have been given raises and the opportunity to work full-time at Activision. However, this does not include those who had previously joined the protests.
- Activison Blizzard has offered about 1,100 testers the opportunity to work full-time and a raise;
- The change does not include Raven Software employees who wanted to unionize;
- According to a representative of studio members, this is expected to stir up divisions among employees.
Activision has long faced controversy over its approach to employees. Part of it was due to the reluctance associated with hiring new full-time team members.
This has caused a lot of resistance among temporary and contract workers. Among them were testers at Raven Software, who decided to defend their interests by attempting to unionize.
Activision refused to recognize the organization, which led to a conflict between the team and the company's management. However, it looks like employee resistance has led to a few positive changes.
Job security only for a select few
Activision Blizzard reported (via Bloomberg) that approximately 1,100 temporary and contract testers have been given the opportunity to work full-time. This guarantees them much more job security.
In addition, they have received a raise and are now earning a minimum of $20 per hour. They have also been made eligible for full benefits.
There is a fly in this ointment, however. These changes do not apply to Raven Software employees who wanted to unionize. They received neither the opportunity to move to full-time employment nor a raise.
According to Activision Blizzard, this is not related to the fact that these testers wanted to join the said organization. Their exclusion from the group of people who will be affected by the positive changes is supposedly due to legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act.
The company did not clarify exactly what these obligations are. However, Sara Steffens, secretary and treasurer of the Communications Workers of America, who represents Raven Software, shared her comments on the subject.
According to her, this is an openly hostile action on the part of Activision Blizzard. The company is supposed to be trying to divide employees. It is also supposed to be a way to discourage them from going forward to form a union.
For now, it's hard to say how the situation will develop. Activision has also not commented on the allegations made by Sara Steffens.
