Activision Blizzard faces new union lawsuit

It is difficult to calculate how many lawsuits are currently being filed against Activision Blizzard. The latest report of “unfair labor practices” came from the union. Communications Workers of America (CWA) together with Activision Blizzard King Workers Alliance (ABK)which was founded by Raven employees in May of this year.

At the start of the current case is a message on internal communications platform Slack from last week that targeted 18,000 employees from a female manager. Lulu Meservy. She addresses the upcoming vote on union formation in Blizzard Albany, formerly Vicarious Visionswhich already falls on October 27th.

Miservey echoes phrases about “full support of the staff” and disagrees that “a handful of employees should make decisions about the future of the entire studio for everyone.” He further writes: “We believe that direct dialogue between the company and employees is the most productive way. (…) We believe that collective bargaining is moving relatively slowly. Since the establishment of the trade union almost six months ago, only three meetings have taken place.”

However, this assertion is somewhat contradicted by the fact that employees were unable to respond to the message. Unions are also reacting to this: “To be clear, the one-way channel through which management provides information to employees does not create a dialogue between employees and superiors. Unions are the only vehicle that can give workers a legally guaranteed seat at the negotiating table and a voice in the workplace.”

Mathervie also draws attention to higher wages for non-union employees. As early as April, Activision Blizzard hired full-time testers outside of Raven Software and increased their salaries. According to U.S. authorities, he has denied the testers promotions, and the union believes the current statement “threatens that unionized employees will not receive pay raises and bonuses and gives the impression that union membership or support is being monitored.” .

The deeper aspect of Activision Blizzard’s troubles is highlighted by repeated allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace and inaction on the part of company management. The latter led to another lawsuit two weeks ago.