Yesterday’s report on the ongoing work stoppage at Activision Blizzard also noted that some publisher employees appeared to be stepping up their efforts to unionize. While it’s unclear at this time how widespread or successful those efforts are, it was enough to get the attention of company management: An internal message from Activision Blizzard Managing Director Brian Bulatao cautions employees to vote for a union could be bad, actually.
“As you may have seen yesterday, there was a communication endorsed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) asking employees to sign and present union authorization cards,” the message reads. “I want to be clear about this: Activision Blizzard leadership supports your right, under the National Labor Relations Act, to make your own decision about whether or not to join a union.
“In making this decision for your future, we only ask that you take the time to consider the consequences of your signing on the binding legal document presented to you by CWA. Once you sign that document, you will have signed with CWA the exclusive right to represent [you] for the purposes of collective bargaining in relation to all terms and conditions of employment ”. That means that your ability to negotiate all your own working conditions will be handed over to CWA, just as the document says.
Senior Test Analyst Jessica González shared a copy of the message on Twitter.
Bulatao says that achieving “the aspirations of the workplace culture” is best achieved through dialogue between management and employees, not the CWA.
“If we don’t achieve the labor goals that we have set for ourselves, if we don’t do the things that we are committed to doing, then of course you always have the right to participate and vote for the CWA,” he said. wrote. “But we are confident that we will make the progress we previously promised and create a workplace with you that we can all be proud of.”
The message has drawn considerable levels of scorn on Twitter. Many responses see it as a veiled threat, while others wonder why, if Activision is so committed to change, it is not moving faster to achieve it. The broad consensus is that Activision Blizzard is very eager to avoid organizing.
The CWA also intervened, calling the statement “disappointing.”
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“Instead of responding to the concerns of their workers, they have chosen to blow up the most tired anti-union talking points directly from the anti-union script,” tweeted the CWA. “Union avoidance campaigns waste resources that ABK management could be using to address serious concerns, such as compensating victims of sexual harassment. We hope that management will come to its senses and see that their only viable way forward is to meet the just demands of the initial strike, including ensuring that there is a lasting voice of the workers in all company affairs.
The negative reaction is not surprising; what’s a bit surprising, at least to me, is that Activision Blizzard leaders would think that spreading this kind of message was a good idea. They had to know that the message would be made public and would not be well received. The only sensible conclusion seems to be that they believe unionization is worth casting doubt on.
Several hours after Bulatao’s message, Personnel Director Julie Hodges sent another one to managers, offering “training sessions” on how to answer union-related questions from employees. It didn’t go very well either.
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A GoFundMe campaign launched Thursday to support Activision Blizzard employees who left work in support of Raven Software contract workers who were laid off last week now stands at nearly $ 250,000.
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