Activision Blizzard accused of using union-busting talking points against employees

The company says the event will be reimagined

Activision Blizzard has found itself in the spotlight yet again for all the wrong reasons. After a myriad of scandals ranging from facilitating a toxic work environment to harassment, the gaming giant now has union-busting to add to the list.

Brian Bulatao, Chief Administrative Officer of Activision Blizzard, sent out a letter to his colleagues aimed at discouraging them from unionizing.

A union busting email from Brian Bulato this morning. What a last day for me hahahahha.

— Jessica Gonzalez #WeAreRaven (@BlizzJess) December 10, 2021

In his letter, Bulatao doesn’t outright discourage his fellow employees from joining a union as it is in violation of federal law in the US. The letter however uses carefully worded phrases to imply that forming a union may impede progress in direct communication between employees and management, which is considered a common anti-union talking point.

Bulatao wrote, “We believe that direct dialogue between management and employees is essential to the success of Activision Blizzard.” Noting that the best way forward was through open dialogue between leadership and employees, so that management can act upon issues quickly.

However, Activision Blizzard doesn’t have a good track record of acting quickly to address employee grievances and that’s putting it mildly. With high-level executives only being recently reprimanded for serious allegations of sexual harassment. While current CEO Bobby Kotick receives continued support from the board, despite his alleged track record with employee misconduct and sexual harassment.

Additionally, the employees of Activision Blizzard have engaged in a strike for a fifth straight day after the company announced layoffs at its subsidiary Raven Software. The letter also characterizes unions as faceless third parties to whom employees would consign away their rights without hope of input.

The Verge also reported that Julie Hodges, Activision Blizzard’s Chief People Officer, issued her own statement to managers about how to deal with and respond to questions they might be receiving about unionization.

Employees of the gaming giant are collaborating with The Communications Workers of America (CWA). Activision Blizzard’s attempts at union-busting were met with disdain by The CWA. The organisation told The Verge, “Instead of responding to their workers’ concerns, they’ve opted to blast the most tired anti-union talking points straight from the union-busting script.”

And while Blizzard’s anti-unionizing efforts may not be comparable to that of Amazon, particularly in Bessemer, Alabama, it is a major step in the wrong direction for a company that has been in the news for all of the wrong reasons. The unionizing drive at Activision Blizzard comes in the wake of massive strikes by workers from John Deere and Kellogg’s.