Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella arrives in a San Francisco courtroom on June 28, 2023. The chief executives of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are expected to testify to persuade a California federal judge to reject the Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to block their $69 billion deal.
Shelby Knowles | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A team of approximately 600 software testers activision The largest union to date in the U.S. video game industry was formed on Friday.
The union was the first in new labor agreement as part of negotiations Microsoft’s The $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October was the company’s largest acquisition to date.
The agreement requires Microsoft to remain neutral with employees who express interest in joining a union and to provide adequate communication channels and information for these employees to make decisions. The labor neutrality agreement took effect after the Microsoft-Activision deal closed in October after months of regulatory pushback.
“We maintained our commitment to neutrality during the organizing campaign and after this vote,” Microsoft attorney Amy Pannoni said in a statement.
In January, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees in its gaming division.
QA tester Kara Fannon said in a statement that Activision Quality Assurance United-CWA (the name of the union) is seeking higher pay and more career opportunities.
These employees, who work in Activision’s quality assurance departments in California, Texas and Minnesota, have joined the Communications Workers of America to form their record-breaking alliance.
“Microsoft continues to stand by its commitment to let employees decide for themselves whether they want to form a union,” CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said in a statement.
Labor organizing in the tech industry has proliferated over the years as big tech companies have grown and come under greater scrutiny over worker protections.
Quality assurance staff at Activision, which reviews games for glitches and bugs, particularly emphasized the need for labor protections, noting that their roles feel undervalued compared to those of software engineers or developers.
Quality assurance workers at the Albany branch of the video game maker also formed a union before the Microsoft-Activision deal closed.
“Quality assurance is currently an undervalued discipline in the games and software industries,” Albany wrote social media then. “We strive to create a work environment where we are respected and compensated for the important role we play in our development.”
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