Employees of Activision Blizzard working under the ABK Workers Alliance have filed a suit with support from Communications Workers of America to the National Labour Relations Board, citing unfair labour practices.
A formal charge was made on September 10, allegedly citing several violations of the National Labour Relations Act. The suit states Activision Blizzard is attempting to interfere with employees’ right to form labour unions.
This is one of several lawsuits Activision Blizzard is currently facing after California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed suit in July when the state accused the company of engaging in ‘frat boy culture,’ including discrimination against women and POC.
If the NLRB rules in our favor, the ruling will be retroactive and we will set a precedent that no worker in the US can be intimidated out of talking about forced arbitration.
— ABetterABK 💙 ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) September 14, 2021
ABK with the help of CODE-CWA, a group specializing in bringing unions to the game and tech industries across North America, supports the employees in filing suit.
Activision Blizzard has been instrumental in terrorizing employees by forbidding them from discussing wages, overtime, and working conditions. The publisher has gone so far as to use coercive tactics against its employees.
Lawyers for the CWA revealed some of the charges against Activision Blizzard, which “has threatened employees that they cannot talk about or communicate about wages, hours and working conditions” and “told employees they cannot communicate with or discuss ongoing investigations of wages, hours and working conditions,” and forcing surveillance on workers who attempt to organize.
