The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled today that the first union at a major U.S. gaming company can file for a formal union election.
In January, the quality assurance (QA) department of Raven Software, a division of Activision Blizzard, formed their historic union. Predictably, the video game giant — which was recently acquired by Microsoft for $68.7 billion — did not grant the union voluntary recognition.
Usually, when this happens, the union can file for an election with the National Labor Board of Relations (NLRB), and if over 50% of eligible employees vote to unionize, then the company is legally required to recognize and bargain with them. But in the case of Raven Software, who formed the Game Workers Alliance through the Communication Workers of America (CWA), their parent company attempted to stop the union from even getting to a vote.
When the …