• News

Activision Blizzard asks NLRB to postpone Albany QA union vote count

The company has asked the NLRB to postpone the counting of unionization votes until its appeal of a previous NLRB decision in the case is heard.

Morgan Shaver

November 2, 2022 11:15 AM

Reuters, Mike Blake

1

The QA team at Blizzard’s Albany studio have been looking at a November 18 date to have its votes on unionization counted. However, it seems like Activision Blizzard isn’t done with attempting to interfere with these efforts just yet as it has since reached out to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requesting that the tabulation of union votes be postponed.

The reason provided by Activision Blizzard for the postponement request is that it feels like its appeal of a previous NLRB decision in the case should be heard first. Elaborating further, this comes in reference to the company’s previous appeal to the NLRB as to whether Blizzard Albany’s 21-person QA team should be allowed to unionize on its own.

Activision Blizzard argued that the vote should be put forward to the entire studio. The NLRB went on to reject Activision Blizzard’s appeal, remarking that the QA team’s low pay rate of around $42,000 per year (compared to a range of $56,000 to $175,000 earned by others at the studio) qualifies them as a separate group of employees from the Blizzard Albany studio as a whole.

Activision Blizzard is now asking that a review into this decision be granted before union votes are counted on November 18 as it feels the decision lacked precedent and that "no [NLRB] decision addresses the appropriate scope of a bargaining unit in a video game studio."

As pointed out by outlets like GamesIndustry.biz, this isn’t the first time Activision Blizzard has attempted to interfere with unionization as it had previously attempted to block a union vote held by a QA team at its Raven Software studio.

At the time, Activision Blizzard similarly aimed to have the vote expanded to all employees at Raven Software, but was likewise unsuccessful in these efforts. Further explanation into why Activision Blizzard is seeking to have the union vote expanded at its Blizzard Albany studio was provided by a spokesperson, who noted:

For more on Activision Blizzard’s attempts to postpone the unionization vote by QA at its Albany studio, read through the full report from GamesIndustry.biz.

Also be sure to brush up on other Activision Blizzard news including the CWA filing labor complaints against Activision Blizzard over anti-union Slack messages, and how Activision Blizzard is facing new lawsuit over sexual harassment and revenge porn.

Morgan Shaver

Senior Editor

Morgan is a writer from the frozen wastelands of Maine who enjoys metal music, kpop, horror, and indie games. They're also a Tetris fanatic who's fiercely competitive in games like Tetris 99... and all games in general. But mostly Tetris. You can follow Morgan on Twitter @Author_MShaver.