Call of Duty developer Raven Software has now secured a contract for its union after after three years of work. Employees at Raven “unanimously voted to ratify their first union contract between Sport Employees Alliance-CWA (GWA-CWA) members and Microsoft,” in response to a press release from the Communication Employees of America (CWA).
The collective bargaining settlement secures a number of circumstances for the 19 high quality assurance testers at Raven. This features a 10% wage improve over two years, together with extra raises by benefit and promotion. CWA says this follows 18 months with out wage will increase and 45 months with out promotions.
The contract additionally addresses crunch time, with “seven days’ discover required for obligatory extra time, no extreme extra time on back-to-back weeks, versatile scheduling of extra time, and no obligatory extra time of any period for almost all of weeks in 1 / 4.”
Lastly, the contract contains provisions for bridging of time labored as contract and temp workers, with outlined job descriptions, a good promotions course of, expanded incapacity lodging, and layoff protections.
This comes after “three years of organizing and bargaining,” in response to QA tester Erin Corridor. “From day one, we made it a precedence to incorporate each voice within the room, and the contract we got here out with displays what we need–better pay, actual profession paths, and safety from burnout. It’s a contract that truly values the work QA does. I’m proud of what we achieved, and I hope it reveals different sport employees that organizing works—and it’s price it.”
Microsoft has laid off 1000’s of employees by a number of rounds of layoffs in latest months, and one tactic of questionable legality in company playbooks to combat unions is to easily lay off the unionized workforce. For this contract to stay, Microsoft should respect the contract and the union. With that mentioned, a secured union contract is a giant step ahead for sport builders.