The Verge first reported that 600 Activision QA employees have formed a new union at the publisher. The union, like the company's other unions, was organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA). This new union is now the largest in the American gaming industry, surpassing another of Microsoft's fellow CWA unions, ZeniMax Workers United (300 members). subsidiary.
It's worth noting that Microsoft signed a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA in 2022, as union organizing efforts across the industry, particularly at Activision Blizzard-owned studios, are in full swing. While this was an important victory for his CWA, it was also a strategic move for Microsoft in its years-long (and ultimately successful) campaign to close the deal to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. .
This agreement appears to have helped Activision QA employees quickly and cleanly unionize within the company, but that doesn't mean the house Bill Gates built is a worker's paradise or anything. . The union's efforts were successful just over a month after the agreement was signed. Microsoft's surprising layoff of 1,900 Activision Blizzard employees.
Still, it is encouraging to see the continued success of union organizing in the industry, especially since union protections are one of the most effective bulwarks against mass layoffs that workers can pursue. It also faces how other large companies are responding to union activity, including Amazon, SpaceX, and Trader Joe's, which the National Labor Relations Board claims is unconstitutional. I also feel like I have to hand it over to Microsoft here.
