Activision Blizzard’s Platform and Technology Workers Form Union with Communications Workers of America

Irvine, Calif. - Today, nearly 400 video game workers within Blizzard's Platform & Technology department have voted strongly in favor of union representation with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), either by signing a union authorization card or indicating that they wanted union representation via an online portal.

These newly represented units include software engineers, project and product managers, graphic designers, and more for Activision Blizzard's Battle.net, the multi-functional gaming platform home to all Blizzard online products, managing Blizzard's online services, website development, in-game purchases, and account management. Workers within these units also work on localization, QA testing, and customer support for other Blizzard products.

Both units will be represented by CWA Local 9510 in Irvine, Calif., and CWA Local 6215 in Austin, Texas. Microsoft has recognized both units.

"I've been at Blizzard for nearly 20 years, and I've seen so many incredible colleagues in the industry come and go for preventable reasons-either for better compensation or as a result of layoffs. Our culture is our people, and we can't afford to lose that," said organizing committee member and Principal Software Engineer Daniel Weltz. "We are forming a union to hold leadership accountable and to ensure that we can focus on building amazing experiences for the gaming community."

"After seeing so many hard-working, passionate coworkers arbitrarily laid off, we are excited to have greater control over our workplace to minimize the suffering caused by future layoffs in the industry," said organizing committee member and Senior Data Scientist Alex Kohn. "By forming a union, we can have a voice in our working conditions to empower ourselves to do our best work at Blizzard."

Earlier this month, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. met with members at the Activision Blizzard campus in Irvine, Calif., to celebrate the growing wave of video game workers organizing across the industry. Over 100 video game workers from other bargaining units at Activision Blizzard and Microsoft studios joined the World of Warcraft Bargaining Committee for a solidarity walk as contract negotiations continued.

"I've seen too many of my talented coworkers leave the company, either due to layoffs, a lack of fair compensation, or proper accommodations not being met," said organizing committee member and Senior Quality Analyst Timothy Biley. "I'm extremely happy that we, the workers, have greater control over our workplace and that we finally have a seat at the table to truly make Blizzard a company we are proud to work for."

"Organizing moved my mindset from something passive and reactive to something that is active and promotes agency in my life," said organizing committee member and Senior Localization Producer Dale Chou. "There is work involved to build our own union, but the work is well worth it to protect the good of Blizzard."

Alongside recent union recognition campaigns across the industry, video game workers announced the formation of United Videogame Workers-CWA (UVW-CWA), an industry-wide video game union working to build power irrespective of employer or current job status. Video game workers interested in learning more should visit this webpage to speak with an organizer.

"With each new Blizzard unit organizing, California continues to become the proving ground for tech and video game power," said CWA Local 9510 President Jason Justice. "Workers here are redefining what it means to work in entertainment-moving from passion alone to power through solidarity. This is how lasting change begins: worker by worker, studio by studio."

"Blizzard workers in Texas are joining a new generation of video game developers who know their worth and are standing up for it," said CWA Local 6215 President Ron Swaggerty. "Together with our siblings in California and beyond, they're proving that no matter where you work, organizing is how we make this industry sustainable for the people who power it."

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About CODE-CWA

The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion