Raven Software workers issued a letter updating the situation as they began their third work week of strike action, saying that leadership had not reached out to them at all. Activision Blizzard has released a new statement on the matter and says Raven is now in discussion with workers.
The letter issued this week outlined demands as well as a desire to engage in talks with Raven leadership as well as Activision Blizzard. One of the requests was that context be explained further with more details and information about what happened that resulted in the 12 workers being suddenly laid off, some after having paid their own relocation and moved to Wisconsin. Those who are walking out also demand that the 12 workers be reinstated and QA employees be given full-time contracts.
In the statement to Gamesindustry.biz, a spokesperson said, "Activision is deeply committed to the well-being of all of our teams, including our Q&A Workforce" and then begins to address the Raven situation directly, "Raven leadership has engaged in dialogue with its staff to hear concerns and explain the company's overall investment in development resources”. The statement insists that they’re growing development and operations and are restructuring, repeating the previously stated initiative to convert 500 temporary workers to full time employees.
As far as the 12 dismissed workers, the company insists that treatment was at least fair, with treatment like “an extended notice period, included payment for the two-week holiday break,” and say they will speak to and work directly with those in need of relocation assistance. However, on the relocation assistance, there was no mention of paying for it, which remains one of the workers’ demands.
The workers continue with their efforts, but if Raven Software leadership is coming to the table, we’ll have to wait and see if anything changes. UPDATE: ABK's Jessica Gonzalez says that they may be bringing in QA workers and shifting tasks around to cover.
Real sad that activision would rather use scabs than listen to their Raven workers. Moving QA from one project to another so both products are delayed rather than solving industry issues…do better ABK
— Jessica Gonzalez ???? #ABetterABK #ABetterUbisoft (@_TechJess) January 6, 2022
Update Jan 7, 2022: Now there are allegations the company statement did not reflect real talks with workers.
Hey just a reminder that ABK strikers woke up to a PRESS INTERVIEW where the company said they were working with RavenQA to move forward. Friends, this was the first time strikers had even gotten a response from the company, and they didn't even bother to do it directly.
— Kate Anderson??#WeAreRaven?? (@RebelComicNerd) January 6, 2022
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