Call of Duty developer Raven Software has now secured a contract for its union after after three years of work. Workers at Raven “unanimously voted to ratify their first union contract between Game Workers Alliance-CWA (GWA-CWA) members and Microsoft,” according to a press release from the Communication Workers of America (CWA).
The collective bargaining agreement secures a few conditions for the 19 quality assurance testers at Raven. This includes a 10% wage increase over two years, along with additional raises through merit and promotion. CWA says this follows 18 months without wage increases and 45 months without promotions.
The contract also addresses crunch time, with “seven days’ notice required for mandatory overtime, no excessive overtime on back-to-back weeks, flexible scheduling of overtime, and no mandatory overtime of any duration for the majority of weeks in a quarter.”
Finally, the contract includes provisions for bridging of time worked as contract and temp employees, with defined job descriptions, a fair promotions process, expanded disability accommodations, and layoff protections.
This comes after “three years of organizing and bargaining,” according to QA tester Erin Hall. “From day one, we made it a priority to include every voice in the room, and the contract we came out with reflects what we need–better pay, real career paths, and protection from burnout. It’s a contract that actually values the work QA does. I’m proud of what we accomplished, and I hope it shows other game workers that organizing works—and it’s worth it.”
Microsoft has laid off thousands of workers through multiple rounds of layoffs in recent months, and one tactic of questionable legality in corporate playbooks to fight unions is to simply lay off the unionized workforce. For this contract to stick, Microsoft will have to respect the contract and the union. With that said, a secured union contract is a big step forward for game developers.
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