Microsoft and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have reached a neutrality agreement that promises to make it easier for workers to organize at Activision Blizzard, the game studio that Microsoft plans to acquire for $68.700 billion.
QA staff at Activision Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software voted to unionize last month, the culmination of months of action, including a five-week strike in January over Activision's failure to fire 12 testers from quality control, resulting in the first union at a major US video game publisher. Despite initially refusing to voluntarily recognize the CWA-backed union, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick changed tack in an email to staff last week.
Microsoft announced plans to buy Activision Blizzard, which is responsible for games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, in January, raising the possibility of a formal employee union operating within Microsoft.
Although Microsoft has previously indicated that it will not stand in the way of unions at Activison Blizzard, the five-point agreement announced Monday by the CWA and Microsoft formalizes its position.
The agreement promises a "neutral approach" to organizing employees without interference from Microsoft and ensures that employees can communicate freely with their co-workers and union organizers about organizing. The deal will take effect 60 days after the planned acquisition closes, CWA said.
The neutrality agreement will give Activision workers the opportunity to "exercise their democratic rights to organize and bargain collectively," CWA President Chris Shelton said in a statement. "Microsoft's binding commitments will give employees a seat at the table and ensure that the Activision Blizzard acquisition benefits the company's workers and the gaming job market in general," he said.
Microsoft President and Vice President Brad Smith welcomed the agreement with CWA in a statement, saying that "today we see the partnership as an avenue to innovate and grow together."
In a Microsoft blog post last week, Smith pledged to respect unionization efforts within the company, a move described by one academic as a "bold and welcome commitment" in a labor organization historically resistant to the tech industry. Microsoft's approach differs from other big tech companies that have taken a more combative stance toward organizing efforts among their workforces, including Apple and Amazon.
Copyright © 2022 IDG Communications, Inc.