CWA Urges European Commission To Approve Microsoft And Activision Blizzard Merger
The Communications Workers of America has been urging the European Commission to approve the upcoming merger between Microsoft and 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 increasingly 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.
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The CWA has been working closely with employees 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 investigations 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
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