Update 1/26: Blizzard has issued a statement to Game Rant addressing the situation.
“The CWA’s withdrawal of this petition is an acknowledgment that Proletariat workers didn’t actually want this. It validates the brave employees who spoke up about feeling pressured by the CWA’s campaign, and it’s why we have supported confidential elections that include all affected workers and lets them vote in private, free from pressure and intimidation.”
Blizzard has also responded to the claims that Sivak was demoralizing employees.
“That is totally false. The Proletariat CEO was responding to concerns from employees who felt pressured or intimidated by CWA and wanted more information about what joining a union could mean. He was defending his employees' right to express their true preferences in a private vote, so they couldn’t be targeted for their perspectives – like he himself is being targeted by the CWA right now.”
Original story follows.
Proletariat, a studio brought on board byBlizzardto supportWorld of Warcraftdevelopment, has ceased its attempts to unionize with the Communications Workers of America. It was reported earlier this month that internal leadership had opted to fall in line withBlizzard’s response to the endeavor, and a recent statement blames Proletariat’s CEO for fracturing the once positive attitude towards unionization.
Raven Software andBlizzard Albany have both unionized under the CWAin recent months, inspiring a push for collective action in an industry that has been so antagonistic towards such moves. Proletariat workers announced their petition late last year, following the growing trend, and were set to become the third group to organize at Activision Blizzard. Prospects soured shortly after a blog post was published by Proletariat leadership, which declared that they would not voluntarily recognize the union and seek an election under the National Labor Relations Board’s oversight. Leadership went so far as to describe themselves as “pro-worker,” alluding to the name of their studio as evidence of this claim, but workers disagreed, accusing management’s actions to have come “right out of the union-busting playbook used by Activision and so many others.”
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It seems that any union-busting tactics employed were effective, as the CWA has “withdrawn itsrequest for a representation election at Activision Blizzard’s Proletariat studio.” The statement goes on to blame Proletariat CEO Seth Sivak, citing that he “chose to follow Activision Blizzard’s lead and responded to the workers' desire to form a union with confrontational tactics.” Sivak saw the concerns raised by workers as a “personal attack,” subsequently establishing a “series of meetings that demoralized and disempowered the group,” ending any possibility for a fair election.
The petition’s withdrawal means that there will be no vote on unionizing at Proletariat in the foreseeable future. The studio’sWorkers Alliance had sought to improve conditionspertaining to paid time-off, remote working, healthcare benefits, and a promise that “transparency and diversity are top priorities.” Dustin Yost, a software engineer at the studio, claimed that the majority of workers supported the union at first, but positive sentiments waned as it was continuously “framed… as a personal betrayal” against management.
Activision Blizzard’s hostility to unionization attempts starkly contrasts Microsoft’s rhetoric and actions thus far. After promising to remain neutral,ZeniMax Media QA employees voted in favor of unionizingearly this month, becoming not only the first labor union at the tech giant but the largest in the games industry. With Microsoft poised to acquire Activision Blizzard, studios may become more willing to engage in unionization attempts without the fear of intimidation and retribution.
