The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled yesterday that 21 QA staffers at Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions) can proceed with their planned unionization vote, reports the Washington Post (opens in new tab). [The NLRB ruling was necessary because parent company Activision Blizzard took issue with the QA staff's plan. Activision argued that all 88 staff members currently working on Diablo games at Blizzard Albany should get a vote in the unionization process, not the 21 members of the QA team. Labor experts interviewed by the Post described the move as a tactic designed, in effect, to dampen voters' enthusiasm for unionization and reduce the likelihood of a successful vote.

Activision has been criticized in the past for hiring Reed Smith, a law firm specializing in "union evasion (opens in new tab)" techniques, despite its pledge to negotiate with union members "in good faith (opens in new tab)." Reed Smith training documents describe unions as exploiting "lazy, unproductive, and inefficient" (opens new tab) employees, "whining and complaining" types, and workers with an "uneventful attitude."

The NLRB rejected Activision's argument against Blizzard Albany's QA staff moving forward with a unionization vote, noting that the QA team is paid less ($41,995 per year) than other staff at the studio, which is significantly noted that it is different. The Board also rejected Activision's argument that staff working on different games should not be part of the same bargaining unit, as some of the 21 QA staff members worked on Diablo 2 Resurrection, some on Diablo 4, and one on WoW.

According to a statement to the Post from Activision Blizzard spokesman Rich George, Activision respects the NLRB process, but "the decisions that could have a significant impact on the future of the entire Diablo team based in Albany , We do not agree with decisions being made by a handful of employees," it said. The statement noted that because of Blizzard Albany's "tightly integrated operations," "all qualified non-management employees there, not just the approximately 20 quality assurance testers selected by the union, should be allowed to have a voice and vote."

Activision sent a very similar message to its employees on its Slack (opens in new tab), adding that the company prefers a "streamlined process" and "direct communication" to the "relatively time consuming" process of union negotiations. This is a line often used by companies facing unionization efforts. So much so that in May of this year, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy used it practically verbatim (opens in new tab) in regard to unionizing warehouse workers.

Union ballots will be sent to applicable Blizzard Albany employees on October 27, with the deadline set for November 17. The tally will be conducted via videoconference the following day, November 18.

Activision has recently received harsh treatment from the NLRB. The board ruled earlier this month (open in new tab) that the company withheld pay raises for unionized Raven QA staff in an act of retaliation. However, Activision has denied this, claiming that offering raises to staff during a union vote is a violation of labor law

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Moreover, of course, all of this is happening while the rest of the world is scrutinizing Microsoft's $68 billion acquisition of Activision (open in new tab) earlier this year. With this acquisition underway and its already severe past failures (opens in new tab) regarding its internal culture, Activision is probably not too thrilled about the PR blow this latest NLRB ruling means.