“We are acting in good faith and asking for good faith.”
Quality assurance workers at Raven Software are ending their strike. The group, which had been striking for several weeks, is ceasing their work stoppage following a vote to unionize last week.
Raven’s QA testers had been on strike in response to the sudden announcement of layoffs. The group announced last week that it had held a successful vote to unionize under the Communication Workers of America (CWA) as the Game Workers Alliance (GWA).
Pending the recognition of our union, the Raven QA strike has ended. Unused strike funds are being stored for future organizing/strike efforts.
We'll post or retweet any GWU updates here. Appreciate all the community support throughout the strike!
— ABetterABK ? ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) January 23, 2022
The workers are now calling on Activision Blizzard to voluntarily recognize their union. Through the ABK Workers Alliance, they made a statement about ending the strike: “We are acting in good faith and asking for good faith.”
Please no not misquote here media: we have asked to be recognized under GWA, *pending* refers to pending response from leadership. Either positive or negative. We are acting in good faith and asking for good faith. https://t.co/H8dOjsaXjO
— ABetterABK ? ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) January 23, 2022
Resources from the strike fund will be used for future organizing efforts. Following last Friday’s announcement, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said that the company is “carefully reviewing the request for voluntary recognition from the CWA.”
Microsoft recently announced its intent to purchase Activision Blizzard for a landmark $68.7 billion. The latter has been under scrutiny as reports have come out about its internal workplace culture, in the wake of a lawsuit from the California DFEH. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is currently set to stay on until the ink dries on the Microsoft deal, though a Wall Street Journal report indicates that Kotick is “expected” to leave the company once the deal is done.
“The news of Activision’s acquisition by Microsoft is surprising, but does not change the goals of the ABK Worker’s Alliance,” the workers group said in response to the acquisition. “We remain committed to fighting for workplace improvements and the rights of our employees regardless of who is financially in control of the company.”
You can find a timeline of events surrounding the Activision Blizzard lawsuit and ensuing fallout here.