The union organising Activision told the EU that life would be much better under Microsoft
Microsoft is at a closed hearing with European Union regulators(opens in new tab) today, where it's once again trying to convince Brussels that its purchase of Activision Blizzard is an excellent idea that will only help gamers and the games industry. But it's not just Microsoft's pleas that the EU will have to hear out: The Communication Workers of America (CWA) has written to EU regulators(opens in new tab) (via GI.biz(opens in new tab)), asking them to please, please let Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition(opens in new tab) go ahead.
The CWA's letter says it wasn't always gung-ho about the acquisition. In fact, when it was first announced, the union had «concerns about the potential for increased employer power over workers that could worsen labor monopsony» (a monopsony is essentially a monopoly's mirror image: a market situation in which something has only one buyer), but a subsequent «dialogue with Microsoft» allowed both sides to reach a neutrality agreement(opens in new tab) that ensured «the workers of Activision Blizzard have a clear path to collective bargaining if the merger is completed».
The CWA contrasts the ease of that process against the difficulties it's faced unionising workers at Activision in its current form. The union says it has faced «management intransigence at every turn» in its quest to organise Activision's current employees, reminding EU regulators of the US National Labor Relations Board's allegations that «Activision executives have prohibited employees from communicating about ongoing investigations of sexual harassment and working conditions».
It's not the first time the CWA, which says it represents around 700,000 members(opens in new tab), has intervened on behalf of Microsoft in the
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