CWA union asks European Commission to approve Microsoft's acquisition of ActivisionBlizzard

Chris Shelton, President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), is asking the European Commission to approve Microsoft's acquisition of ActivisionBlizzard for a record-breaking $68.7 billion, as it could have a positive impact on the labour market.

Here's What We Know

In the letter, Shelton pointed out the main obstacles that Activision Blizzard developers face when trying to form a trade union. The main problem is the unwillingness of the management to make contact. After all, back in September 2021, CWA filed a complaint with the National Labour Relations Board. At that time, Activision Blizzard was accused of breaking up the union. The next complaint came in August 2022, when the CWA reported that Activision Blizzard had illegally monitored employees during protests and prevented them from discussing labour issues.

Interestingly, when the deal was first announced, the CWA was not very happy about it, as it feared that Microsoft had "the potential to increase employer power over employees, which could worsen labour monopsony". But in June 2022, Microsoft and the CWA signed a labour neutrality agreement. This will give Activision Blizzard employees a safe path to unionisation, if the agreement is approved.

Shelton wrote that: "Microsoft's binding commitments will give workers a seat at the table and ensure that Activision's acquisition of Blizzard will benefit the company's employees and the wider video games labour market. In this case, the European Commission has the opportunity to take seriously the impact of a major deal on the video game labour market. Given the clear pathway to remedies for potential consumer harm articulated by the European Commission and other regulators, we hope that you will approve this merger and help make history in the redistribution of labour market power."

Flashback

In January, Microsoft announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the creators of the Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft and other franchises. The transaction value is $68.7 billion, which is significantly higher than the $7.5 billion that Microsoft spent on the acquisition of Bethesda back in 2020. The deal is the largest in the history of the gaming industry. The deal is expected to close in 2023. However, some companies in the gaming industry believe that the deal could harm the market, so it is unknown whether the deal will be approved at all.

Source: gamesindustry