30+ workers at Middleton-based video game developer are unionizing | Business News
The workers are calling on Activision Blizzard’s management to recognize the union, called the Game Workers Alliance Union with the Communications Workers of America. The group was created Friday, according to another local union, Wisconsin AFL-CIO.
Launched in 1990, Raven Software creates several video games under Activision Blizzard, including the profitable Call of Duty franchise. The workers who unionized said they mainly work on Call of Duty, according to the AFL-CIO release. Raven Software has a few hundred employees, so the union is a fraction, but still a large chunk, of the company’s overall staff.
Activision has had complaints about workplace discrimination and sexual harassment, and Raven Software workers staged an online walkout in early December over unexpected layoffs.
AFL-CIO President Stephanie Bloomingdale said in a statement that her union in standing “in solidarity” with the Raven Software workers.
