Activision Blizzard illegally withheld (delayed) raises from unionizing workers, labor board finds.

Gaming giant Activision Blizzard unlawfully retaliated against workers at Raven Software who formed a union, the National Labor Relations Board found.

Activision Blizzard claimed that, due to laws under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the company wasn’t allowed to change the pay rate of its employees in the midst of a union effort. The Communication Workers of America, which represents the union, said that this was a disingenuous attempt at union busting.

Now, the NLRB has officially ruled in the union’s favor, declaring that it was illegal for Activision Blizzard to withhold wages.
“Despite their best efforts, Activision’s constant attempts to undermine its workers and impede our union election have failed the GWA said in an emailed statement.

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson stated:

“Due to legal obligations under the NLRA requiring employers not to grant wage increases while an election was pending, we could not institute new pay initiatives at Raven because they would be brand new kinds of compensation changes, which had not been planned beforehand.