Activision Blizzard is asking employees to take time to consider the consequences of workers recent efforts to unionize, a tactic some organizers are calling "union busting."
Driving the news: Chief administrative officer Brian Bulatao sent an internal email on Friday, claiming that employees signing union cards will have signed over to [the Communications Workers of America] the exclusive right to represent [you]...that means your ability to negotiate all your own working conditions will be turned over to CWA.
Achieving our workplace culture aspirations will best occur through active, transparent dialogue between leaders and employees that we can act upon quickly, Bulatao continues.
A Better ABK organizer Jessica Gonzalez told Axios that the companys incompetence has been showing and continues to show with this obvious union busting intimidation tactic.
Activision Blizzards message is a direct response to employees continued efforts to unionize.
Employees at Call of Duty: Warzone developer Raven Software walked out earlier this week after a dozen quality assurance contractors were told their contracts would not be renewed.
Those employees have not yet returned to work and have instead entered strike territory.
Organizers have also begun collecting union authorization cards as they work to gather the support needed to form a union.
An Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Axios that it supports our employees right to express their opinions in a legal, safe, and peaceful manner, without fear of retaliation, and their NLRA rights in general.
It's disappointing to see Activision Blizzard management, at yet another choice point when they could have done the right thing, double down and continue to take the low road, said CWA National Organizing Director Tom Smith in a statement to Axios.
Union avoidance campaigns waste resources that ABK management could otherwise be using to address the serious concerns at the company such as compensating the victims of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Organizers say leadership rarely, if ever, acknowledges their efforts and asks.
The fact that we're being so routinely ignored, just really speaks to the fact that our leadership doesn't care, an organizer told Axios. The only way to make them care is to put public pressure on them to make them see that caring is profitable. We are turning so many great people out of our companies and so many great people out of the industry with these culture issues. That stuff has a huge impact on our ability to make games.
Two organizers at A Better ABK told Axios that Activision Blizzard would no longer compensate workers who walked out past Dec. 8.
Organizers announced a strike fund Thursday to support workers in their walkout thats already raised more $241,000.
We didn't want to jump straight to unionization, an organizer told Axios, noting leaderships lack of action as a driving force.
The fact that this has gone on for so long, we really did feel the need to make sure that people were secure, especially because... we can't intermittently strike.
A Better ABK continues to gather the necessary 30 percent support to hold an election to unionize in the wake of leaderships unwillingness to work with them.