Credit: Unsplash
The new union will need to speak with the National Labor Relations Board.
On the heels of the wave of sexual harassment lawsuits and numerous end-of-year layoffs, the employees of Activision Blizzard and its subsidiaries have been disgruntled lately, to put it nicely. In an effort to better defend themselves from the company’s questionable influence, a large number of employees from Activision Blizzard’s child company Raven Software, many of whom previously participated in protests and walkouts, have decided to form their very own labor union under the Communication Workers Of America known as the Game Workers Alliance.
If Activision Blizzard were to recognize the existence of this union, it would be officially formed right away, bringing all the benefits of unionization along with it. Of course, Activision Blizzard, being Activision Blizzard, did not do that.
“At Activision Blizzard, we deeply respect the rights of all employees to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union,” the company explained in a statement. “We carefully reviewed and considered the CWA initial request last week and tried to find a mutually acceptable solution with the CWA that would have led to an expedited election process. Unfortunately, the parties could not reach an agreement.”
Without the official signoff, the union-to-be will need to go through the official channels of unionization, starting with contacting the National Labor Relations Board. While this while likely be a lengthy process, the unionizers are confident they have a big enough majority among their workforce to be recognized.
Activision Blizzard will not voluntarily recognize the new Game Workers Alliance Union formed within Raven Software, it says. https://t.co/WWk6LCEbJw pic.twitter.com/JUyEf2ZkPA
— Game Informer (@gameinformer) January 26, 2022
“We are deeply disappointed that Raven Software and Activision Blizzard refused to uplift workers rights by choosing to not voluntarily recognize our union in spite of our supermajority support,” the Game Workers Alliance said in a Twitter thread. “This was an opportunity for Activision Blizzard to show a real commitment setting new and improved standards for workers. Instead, Activision Blizzard has chosen to make a rushed restructuring announcement to try and hinder our right to organize…
“Once again, when management is given a choice, they always seem to take the low road.”
