The recent lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard by the state of California has caused lots of information to come out, resulting in an employee walkout. Now, a coalition of Activision Blizzard employees has formed a workers alliance.
This new group is known as the ABK Workers Alliance and it has sent a joint letter to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and his executive leadership team. This open letter criticizes Activision Blizzard's decision to hire the WilmerHale law firm as a third-party auditor to review the company and create a healthier workplace.
The open letter from ABK Workers Alliance was recently acquired by IGN and it includes employees from various Activision Blizzard studios. Names from Activision, Beenox, Blizzard Entertainment, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, and Vicarious Visions are all represented. The Alliance criticizes Kotick of not meaningfully addressing the recent demands of workers.
The ABK Workers Alliance's joint letter requests that Bobby Kotick and other executive leadership at Activision Blizzard fully address the list of worker demands. The employees have already promised changes at the studios such as worker-to-worker mentorships, open listening sessions, and community meetings. According to IGN, Activision Blizzard leadership has received and is reviewing the joint letter.
Although the ABK Workers Alliance criticized Activision Blizzard for its choice in law firms, the coalition commended the idea of an internal review. Instead of merely denouncing WilmerHale, ABK Workers Alliance's joint letter offered several points of contention about why a different third-party auditor would be better.
According to the joint letter, the coalition of Activision Blizzard employees rejects Activision Blizzard's choice of law firm for various reasons. The employees see an issue with Activision Blizzard's pre-existing relationship with WilmerHale. The ABK Workers Alliance also claims that Stephanie Avakian, the partner leading the internal review, has a history of "protecting the wealthy and powerful."
Activision Blizzard previously worked with WilmerHale this year to dispute a recently proposed policy from the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund and UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust. This joint effort has potentially created a conflict of interest between executives at Activision Blizzard and WilmerHale. This is why the ABK Workers Alliance is requesting another third-party auditor review Activision Blizzard.
The WilmerHale law firm has a reputation of union-busting with other clients such as Amazon, and Activision Blizzard has brought it in to review human resources policies. When Activision Blizzard employees recently walked out, they also sent the company a list of demands that mostly requested an end to forced arbitration in employment agreements and inclusive recruiting and hiring practices.
Source: IGN