Microsoft has stated that it “will not stand in the way” of a potential Activision Blizzard alliance that has been recognized.
According to the report of washington articles, Microsoft vice president and general counsel Lisa Tanzi shared the company’s stance on these unions possible before the agreement with Xbox-Activision Blizzard goes into effect in 2023.
“Microsoft respects the right of Activision Blizzard employees to choose whether to be represented by a labor organization and we will respect those decisions,” Tanzi said.
This comment comes after fifteen workers at Raven Software signed a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, asking him to encourage Activision Blizzard to voluntarily recognize the Game worker Alliance. Microsoft vice president and president Brad Smith was also mentioned in the letter.
Furthermore, the letter accuses Reed Smith, a law firm retained by Activision Blizzard, of participating in the publication of anti-union material on its website, including a PowerPoint presentation featuring slides with standards titled “Types of Employee Union Exploitation.”
“I hope that you will agree that this demeaning and derogatory approach towards employees seeking to improve their workplace should not be tolerated,” the letter read.
“The content of this presentation was created for a conference in 2013 by attorneys who are no longer employed at the firm,” said Phill McGowan, director of corporate communications at Reed Smith. “It doesn’t reflect how our company thinks about employee and employer rights. These slides are not related to the pending CWA representation petition and were not prepared or used by the attorneys representing Activision Blizzard. “
Follow Activision Blizzard fired “at least a dozen” quality assurance contractors from Call of Duty studio Raven Software in December 2021, steps taken by Raven QA staff and more to create Activision Blizzard’s first alliance.
Activision Blizzard has not yet voluntarily recognized the Game Workers Union and no agreement is made between two parties according to the deadlines set by the worker organization.
This is but another chapter in the aftermath of Activision Blizzard being sued by California against allegations of “masculine culture” and sexual harassment.
For more, read about a new lawsuit alleges “pervasive sexism” at Activision Blizzard and how Microsoft approached Activision Blizzard about the acquisition just 3 days after the Bobby Kotic report.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and more Convulsions.
