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The ongoing saga of Microsoft’s bid to buy Activision-Blizzard has taken yet another turn, with the union that represents a potential wave of QA worker organizing voicing its support for the deal. In an op-ed in the Hill, Chris Shelton, the president of the Communication Workers of America, called the deal “a merger that would help the workers for once.”
In the op-ed, Shelton calls for the Federal Trade Commission to approve the merger, saying that it would make a “strong statement” towards protecting workers from large employers abusing their market powers to harm employees.
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They also note that Microsoft has signed a “labor neutrality agreement” that presumably means that the company will remain uninvolved in any unionization activity. This would be a change of policy for Activision, which has attempted to stop QA workers from organizing at every stage, albeit unsuccessfully.
The CWA has made waves in the gaming industry by representing several groups of QA workers at major video game developers, like Raven Software, Blizzard Albany, and now ZeniMax, which includes Bethesda. Microsoft owns ZeniMax, and the CWA-sponsored group announced its bid for unionization on the same day Shelton’s op-ed ran.
The Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger has come under scrutiny from authorities in the US, EU, and other countries due to potential concerns about monopolization and anti-competitive business practices. Reports indicate that Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year licensing deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.
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