EA staff threaten walkout over lack of statements during Pride Month
Danielle Partis
News Editor
Wednesday 1st June 2022
Employees at Electronic Arts have threatened a walkout over the company's lack of action during Pride Month.
The plan was expressed in a message sent to EA's internal Slack group, seen by GamesIndustry.biz, in which staff expressed joint concern about the publisher's vague plans to support LGBTQ+ initiatives during June.
In that same message, employees threatened to stage a walkout should the company not take sufficient action to back up a blog post about its upcoming celebrations for Pride.
"If we see the company rainbow-wash their logo without making any substantive statement in support of trans people being abused nationwide in the US and elsewhere, especially after stating that the company doesn't want to make any statement not supported by the diverse viewpoints of our 13,000 employees, we collectively walk out on Friday, June 3rd," the message read.
"Just slapping a rainbow on our logo in June without any broader action will be unacceptable."
Shortly after the message was shared, another email was sent to EA's social teams that offered details on what employees can and cannot post during Pride month.
"As most of you know, when June 1 arrives, many companies lean into the Pride celebration -- oftentimes with limited effort beyond rainbow washing their social account profiles," the email said. "As we head into the month, we want to ensure our efforts to celebrate pride are meaningful."
The email did not detail what specific action the company plans to take, but said that "more will be shared this week" on what EA has planned to celebrate Pride internally.
It also contained guidance on what EA leaders, studios and franchises can do to support Pride externally.
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