The Communications Workers of America has been urging the European Commission to approve the upcoming merger between Microsoft and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Activision Blizzard. The news comes in the form of a letter addressed to✤ Executive Vice President of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager which encourages the executive to consider the positive impact which the corporate merger could have on the labor market within the games industry.
As workers in the games industry increasing💎ly seek to form unions, the CWA is encouraging Vestager to recognize the importance of collective bargaining and the potential for the merger to benefit workers. In the letter, President of the CWA Chris Shelton explained how the games industry has been plagued by issues like sexual harassment, discrimination, overwork, exhaustion, and retaliation. Shelton added that workers have managed to win union representation at two Activision Blizzard studios, but noted how the company continues to try and prevent further organizing and stall contract negotiations at the studios in question, Blizzard Albany and Raven Software.
The CWA has been working closely with emplo💃yees of Activision Blizzard and has filed a number of unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. These charges alleged that Activision Blizzard executives prohibited employees from communicating about ongoing investi❀gations of sexual harassment and working conditions, threatening or disciplining workers who engage in labor activism. The NLRB found merit to these allegations back in May.
The union considers the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to have the potential to benefit the games industry labor market by giving workers more bargaining power and consequently reducing employer influence. As part of this effort, Microsoft has agreed to a b♛inding labor neutrality agreement with the CWA which guarantees abstention from unionization efforts, providing workers with a clear pathway to representation.
This agreement is groundbreaking and represents the first compact of its scale to guarantee neutrality on the part of a technology company from union organizing. While the agreement only applies to organizing activites at Activision Blizzard studios following the merger, Microsoft has demonstrated its commitment to respecting the right of workers to organize. When game testers at one of Microsoft's own studios, Zenimax, sought union representation earlier this year, the company agreed to a free, fair, and neutral process to determine support and eventually recognized the fledgling union.
In the letter to Vestager, Shelton pressed the European Commission to approve the merger, helping to make history by changing the balance of power in the games industry. The CWA believes the merger has the potential to benefit workers by giving them a seat at the table and ensuring that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will benefit the company's workers and the broader video game labor market.
Collective bargaining has long proven to be an effective counterbalance to corporate power over the labor market, something which has been well documented in both academic theory and h൲istorical practice. By approving the merger and recognizing the importance of collective bargaining, the CWA believes the European Commission could help to create a more equitable games ❀industry which benefits workers and employers alike.