Activision Lawyers Call Union Workers ‘Footloose Whiners’
Last month, Activision-owned Raven Software, a.k.a. One of the Call of Duty team members would be creating a workers union. It’s called the Game Workers Alliance Union and is expected to be the second union of video gamers in the United States.
This is a great thing for anyone who is not part of the loop. Activision was the target of multiple lawsuits last year. These were based on a variety of shocking claims within the company including claims of sexual harassment and the existence of “frat-boy cultures” and unfair labour practices.
GameRant reports that Reed Smith, a law company representing Activision Blizzard at its National Labor Regulations Board hearing is being attacked online for his infuriating descriptions about union members. Jessica Gonzalez, a senior quality engineering engineer who used to be with Activision Blizzard, shared this information on Twitter.
“I am losing all my f**king brain at Activision Blizzard’s actual post from Activision Blizzard’s law firm representing them during the NLRB Hearing,” she wrote. She attached a slide from a presentation that lists the “types employees unions exploit” and suggested that the slide was about how employers can prevent employees from joining or forming unions.
It’s all a mess, as you can see. The descriptions range from “lazy” or “whiner” to “anti-establishment”, and “inefficient”. They clearly show the firm’s attitude towards union members. It’s not a good one. It’s not a good look for Activision being associated with them, especially since they are already under fire for their allegations within the company.
While Microsoft’s acquisition Activision is on the horizon it’s clear that there are still many issues to resolve when it comes to how the company treats its employees. We will see how this is done.
