Following in the wake of the union win at Raven Software in Middleton, Quality Assurance workers at a game studio in Canada have just had a unanimous vote in favor of unionization. Workers at Keywords Studios in Edmonton, Canada had their votes counted this past Monday and all 16 were yes. The studio, which has dozens of offices worldwide, does contract work for other development companies rather than publish their own games directly.
Quality Assurance workers are among the lowest-paid and have the least benefits within the software and video game industry. Workers are Keyword Studios told the online news outlet Polygon that they don’t receive paid time off and start at a pay rate of $15(Canadian) an hour. The company began implementing a return-to-office plan that included less flexibility for QA workers, meaning if they had COVID symptoms or exposures they were unable to have paid time off or work from home and instead would simply miss pay.
Following workers at Raven, the QA workers at Keyword Studios are now the second union of video game workers at a AAA studio in North America. The workers voted to join UFCW Local 401.
Reporting courtesy of Scot MCullough
Image Courtesy of UFCW International Union on Flickr
