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Raven Quality Assurance Workers Become First Activision Blizzard Workers to Form a Union with Launch of the Game Workers Alliance with Communications Workers of America Middleton, Wisconsin — Today workers at Raven Software, a video game studio under Activision Blizzard, announced the launch of their union, Game Workers Alliance Union (CWA), with Communications Workers of America. Workers at Raven’s quality assurance department requested voluntary recognition from Activision Blizzard management in alignment with the desire of a supermajority of their workforce. Game Workers Alliance (CWA) is the first unit within Activision Blizzard to form a union. Microsoft recently announced plans to acquire the company. “Today, I am proud to join with a supermajority of my fellow workers to build our union, Game Workers Alliance (CWA). In the video game industry, specifically Raven QA, people are passionate about their jobs and the content they are creating. We want to make sure that the passion from these workers is accurately reflected in our workplace and the content we make. Our union is how our collective voices can be heard by leadership,” said Becka Aigner, QA functional tester II at Raven. Since its founding in 1990, Raven Software has become one of the most exclusive video game companies. The studio, which was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 1997, is responsible for the Call of Duty series, which the Raven QA team predominantly works on. “We formed the Game Workers Alliance (CWA) because my colleagues and I want to have our voices heard and we want to see changes that reflect the wants and needs of both the gaming community and the workers who create these incredible products. It’s extremely important that workers have a real seat at the table to positively shape the company going forward,” said Brent Reel, QA Lead at Raven. The Game Workers Alliance (CWA) launch came on the heels of Raven QA workers entering week five of their strike. The strike began December 6, when over 60 Raven Software workers walked out in protest after Activision Blizzard laid off 12 of the studio’s quality assurance testers. The Raven QA strike was the third work stoppage since Activision Blizzard was sued in late July over sexual harassment and misconduct claims. “Raven QA workers are taking an important next step toward improving their working conditions by joining together in a union, and we are excited to be supporting their efforts. We ask that Activision Blizzard management respect Raven QA workers by voluntarily recognizing CWA's representation without hesitation," said Communications Workers of America Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens. "A collective bargaining agreement will give Raven QA employees a voice at work, improving the games they produce and making the company stronger. Voluntary recognition is the rational way forward.” Instead of collaborating with workers organizing to improve workplace conditions, Activision Blizzard has used surveillance and intimidation tactics, including hiring notorious union busters, to silence workers. Still, members of Game Workers Alliance (CWA) are hopeful Activision Blizzard management will come to the table and formally recognize the union. “Our union will help inform what is best for Activision Blizzard as a company, as a platform for gamers and a workplace where all workers can thrive. The goal of the Game Workers Alliance (CWA) is to represent what we as workers in the industry want as well as set a new standard for workers across the industry moving forward,” said Erin Hall, QA functional tester II at Raven. Game Workers Alliance (CWA) will provide a structure so that workers can actively push for real changes at the company to ensure just working conditions, wages, benefits and transparency on the job without fear of retaliation. ### Follow Game Workers Alliance (CWA) at @WeAreGWA The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities. — Jan 21
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CWA Midwest, Legacy T Members Vote to Extend Contract with AT&T Communications Workers of America members covered by the AT&T Midwest and national Legacy T agreements have voted to extend their contracts for four years. The contracts, which were set to expire in early April, cover 6,250 wireline employees in the Midwest region (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin) and 3,000 wireline employees across the country and in Puerto Rico in the Legacy T division. The extended agreements include annual wage and pension increases, keep healthcare cost share percentages at their current levels, protect employment security, and continue recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a company holiday. The LegacyT agreement preserves commitments on the number of jobs that will remain in the unit. “This extension meets our key goals: improving our members’ standard of living, protecting retirees, providing employment security, and maintaining affordable health care costs,” said Linda Hinton, Vice President of CWA District 4, which covers the Midwest. “We have been able to preserve the hard-won gains we have made over the years and provide stability for our members during these challenging times.” “Our ability to reach an agreement to extend our contracts with AT&T at their current levels is a testament to the strength and resilience our members at Legacy T have shown over the past few years,” said Lisa Bolton, Vice President of CWA’s Telecommunications and Technologies sector. “I am particularly proud that we were able to keep our employment watermarks, the foundation of our job security, at their current levels. Maintaining these watermarks for 8 years is an unprecedented achievement.” ### — Jan 21
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Bargaining Update Frontier Communications After months of bargaining, mobilizing, and the threat of a strike, CWA members at Frontier Communications in Connecticut (CWA Local 1298) and New York (CWA Locals 1170, 1111, and 1122) reached a tentative agreement on Monday. The new 3-year agreement includes wage increases, elimination of two-tier medical plans, and protection of call center jobs, and it retains the current 401(k) matching and pension plans. This win follows a tentative agreement reached by Frontier members in California last week. The members wrote thousands of emails to Frontier executives, participated in countless rallies, and engaged members of the public and elected officials. These agreements are reflective of the power the members generated by actively mobilizing and fueling the strength of their bargaining committees. ### Dish Network Last week, after a long organizing battle and bargaining that spanned over a decade, workers at Dish Network (CWA Local 6171) ratified their first contract, becoming the first group of workers in the country to successfully negotiate a contract at Dish. This is a major victory for CWA and other Dish workers around the country who are fighting for a voice on the job. The new 2-year agreement covers network technicians and warehouse employees and includes promotions for all technicians who have completed 12 months of service at their current Tech Level, modified requirements for promotions by eliminating the need for quality assurance inspections and safety inspections, up to two hours off on work days for workers to vote during elections, just cause language, a grievance procedure, wage increases, improved working conditions, and more. The workers have been bargaining for a first contract since 2010. Throughout this long battle for a voice on the job, they withstood countless attacks from the company including an anti-union campaign, several NLRB court fights, illegal firings and intimidation of workers in retaliation for their efforts to gain a fair contract, and more. The company went as far as attempting to decertify the union at two separate times during the negotiations. Both were defeated by the workers who voted to keep their CWA representation. This win is a testament to the passion and determination of the leadership and staff of CWA District 6, CWA Local 6171 President Travis Pirotte, and the members who together held rallies, leafleated, engaged members of the public to put pressure on their employer, and never backed down from the fight. ### New York Magazine After more than two years of negotiations, workers at New York Magazine, members of the NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003), have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract. The framework includes a $60,000 salary floor, raises of over $20,000, guaranteed annual raises, and more. ### Park City Mountain Ski Resort Last week, workers at the Park City Mountain Ski Resort reached a tentative agreement after months of bargaining. During negotiations, the workers held several rallies to inform the public and put pressure on their employer to deal more favorably with the union. When the workers felt like a strike was imminent, they reached out to their community and began a solidarity fund. The group raised over $100,000. This demonstration of community support invigorated the members and put pressure on the employer to negotiate a fair contract. ### Piedmont Airlines After months of bargaining, mobilizing, a strike vote approved by a 100 percent of the members, and a successful public pressure campaign, AFA-CWA Flight Attendants at Piedmont Airlines reached a tentative agreement last week. Highlights of the new agreement include signing bonuses, substantial pay increases, a series of work rule improvements, and retention of the members’ healthcare plans. ### ABC Over the last four months, NABET-CWA’s Network Negotiating Committee (NNC) has been participating in multiple rounds of negotiations with ABC for a fair contract. However, the company keeps responding largely with indifference to the members’ demands. ABC rejected a packaged proposal by the NNC that would have given the company considerable scheduling flexibility in exchange for increased scheduling protections for daily hires. Even with the additional burden members are facing because of the pandemic, ABC’s proposals provide less job security, less rest, stagnating compensation, and vague future job opportunities. The bargaining committee has heard the members’ demands loud and clear and has incorporated them into their proposals. They are determined to keep fighting at the bargaining table for what the members deserve. ### Middlesex County Board of Social Services Last Wednesday, workers at the Middlesex County Board of Social Services in New Jersey (CWA Local 1032) and supporters took to the streets despite the frigid temperatures to demand health and safety protections from COVID and a good contract. — Jan 20
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Organizing Update Outside Magazine Workers at Outside Magazine announced earlier this month that they are forming a union. An overwhelming majority of the workers support the union and they are asking the Company to voluntarily recognize their unit. They will become part of the Denver News Guild (TNG-CWA Local 37074). — Jan 20
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CWAers Celebrate the 27th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Honoring MLK by Fighting for the Passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and Ending the Filibuster Activists in Houston participated in an MLK day rally organized by Martin Luther King III and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to demand the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and ending the filibuster. CWA District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings Jr. spoke at the rally about the need to protect our democracy and advance voting rights and also served as a co-Grand Marshall of Houston’s MLK Jr. Parade and Festival. CWA District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings Jr. speaking at an MLK day rally in Houston about the need to end the filibuster and protect our voting rights. ### MLK for All at Lumen Technologies CWA members and workers at Lumen Technologies commemorated this year’s MLK holiday by fighting against the company’s discriminatory policy giving non-union workers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid day off while requiring over 5,000 union members to work on the federal holiday. The company first instituted this policy last year in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. CWA members accused Lumen of corporate “woke-washing” and using MLK Day to hurt union workers. On Monday, members and supporters protested this policy at Lumen Technologies headquarters in Denver. In addition, workers participated in a virtual webinar hosted by Workers United Against Racism at Lumen. ### United Campus Workers MLK Day Live Stream CWA Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook (bottom left) joined members of the United Campus Workers of Tennessee (CWA Local 3865) on Facebook Live for the local's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Organizing Awards presentation. Dr. King "believed that democracy must be real, in every part of our lives, if we are going to live with dignity and in freedom." Cook said in her keynote speech. "That meant not just the kind of democracy that is so egregiously under attack today...it meant democracy in that place that has the least democracy of all in this country. Democracy at work." — Jan 20
News
- Raven Quality Assurance Workers Become First Activision Blizzard Workers to Form a Union with Launch of the Game Workers Alliance with Communications Workers of America
- CWA Midwest, Legacy T Members Vote to Extend Contract with AT&T
- Bargaining Update
- Organizing Update
- CWAers Celebrate the 27th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday