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Members of the ABK Workers Alliance have filed a new lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, accusing the company of unfair labour practices including worker intimidation and union busting.
As first reported by Vice’s Waypoint, the members of the alliance have partnered with the Communication Workers of America to formally file charges against the publisher. An accompanying press release claims that, after the ABetterABK group’s formation back in August; “Activision Blizzard management is using coercive tactics to attempt to prevent its employees from exercising their rights to stand together and demand a more equitable, sustainable, and diverse workplace.”
According to Vice, the suit itself, filed with the National Labor Relations Board, says the workers allege within the last six months the company has:
- “Repeatedly engaged in unlawful conduct by threatening employees”
- “Told employees they cannot communicate with or discuss ongoing investigations of wages, hours and working conditions”
- “Maintained an overly broad social media policy and enforced the social media policy against employees who have engaged in protected concerted activity”
- “Threatened or disciplined employees on account of protected concerted activity”
- “Engaged in surveillance of employees engaged in protected concerted activity and engaged in interrogation of employees about protected concerted activity.”
While Activision Blizzard is yet to respond to the lawsuit at the time of writing, the ABetterABK group on Twitter say that “If the NLRB rules in our favor, the ruling will be retroactive and we will set a precedent that no worker in the US can be intimidated out of talking about forced arbitration.”
The accusation comes following Activision Blizzard’s ongoing lawsuit brought about by the State of California, accusing the company of harbouring a “pervasive frat boy workplace culture” and citing multiple counts of sexual harassment.
If the NLRB rules in our favor, the ruling will be retroactive and we will set a precedent that no worker in the US can be intimidated out of talking about forced arbitration.
— ABetterABK (@ABetterABK) September 14, 2021
