Call of Duty QA Workers Win First Union Contract With Microsoft After 3 Years

Quality assurance workers astatine Raven Software, 1 of the developers of Call of Duty, person officially ratified their archetypal national declaration with Microsoft 3 years aft they archetypal unionized.

In a property release, the national shared respective highlights of the caller contract, including a guaranteed 10% wage summation implicit 2 years positive further raises done merit and promotions, important restrictions connected mandatory overtime, layoff protections, expanded disablement accommodations, and more.

“After much than 3 years of organizing and bargaining, seeing it yet wage disconnected feels incredible,” said bargaining committee subordinate and QA tester Erin Hall successful a statement. “From time one, we made it a precedence to see each dependable successful the room, and the declaration we came retired with reflects what we need—better pay, existent vocation paths, and extortion from burnout. It’s a declaration that really values the enactment QA does. I’m arrogant of what we accomplished, and I anticipation it shows different crippled workers that organizing works—and it’s worthy it.”

Raven Software's QA national has had a agelong roadworthy to get here. The inciting incidental for its unionization was a circular of layoffs backmost successful December of 2021 arsenic a portion of a workplace restructure instituted by then-parent institution Activision Blizzard. The pursuing day, employees walked retired to protestation the cuts, garnering the enactment of employees astatine different Activision Blizzard companies. Raven Software continued to onslaught for weeks earlier the institution yet responded successful January, lone to beryllium acquired by Microsoft conscionable implicit a week later. By the extremity of the month, Raven QA workers had announced the enactment of Activision Blizzard's precise archetypal union. While Activision Blizzard declined to admit the national voluntarily, the radical won its national predetermination the pursuing May anyway.

Since then, a fig of different groups nether Microsoft Xbox person unionized, some wrong Activision Blizzard and successful different subsidiaries specified arsenic ZeniMax. This past May, QA workers astatine ZeniMax Media reached a declaration statement with the company, portion galore others are inactive astatine the bargaining table.

Rebekah Valentine is simply a elder newsman for IGN. You tin find her posting connected BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a communicative tip? Send it to [email protected].