Summoning Developer Raven Software has signed the first union contract

After three years of work, summoning developer Raven Software has now received a union contract. Raven's workers “unanimously voted to approve their first union contract between members of the Game Workers Alliance CWA (GWA-CWA) and Microsoft.” Press release From the American Communication Workers (CWA).

The Collective Negotiation Agreement ensures some of the conditions for Raven’s 19 quality assurance testers. This includes a 10% increase in salary in two years, as well as additional improvements through performance and promotion. The CWA said it was 45 months without a promotion after 18 months without a salary increase.

The contract also resolves the tightening time, “mandatory overtime requires seven days notice, no excessive overtime work during the back-to-back weeks, flexible overtime arrangements, and no mandatory overtime work for most weeks of the quarter.”

Finally, the contract includes bridging time as a contract and provisions for temporary employees, with defined job descriptions, fair promotion process, expanded accommodation for disabled people and layoff protection.

This isThree years Regarding organization and bargaining, “according to quality inspector Erin Hall.” From day one, we included every voice in the room, and the contract we proposed reflects what we needed – paid, actual career paths and protection from burnout. This is a contract that actually attaches importance to quality assurance work. I am proud of our achievements and hope it shows other game workers how effective the organization works, which is worth it. ”

Microsoft passed Multiple rounds of layoffs The questionable strategy for fighting unions in company scripts in recent months has been to simply put down the union’s labor force. In order for this contract to persist, Microsoft will have to respect the contract and the union. That being said, a secured union contract is a big step forward for game developers.