Almost 60 video game employees at Activision Blizzard on Tuesday said they have filed for union representation, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Workers at the Boston-based Proletariat video game studio, which was acquired by Activision Blizzard earlier this year, said they’re organizing with the Communications Workers of America to form a union that includes “designers, animators, engineers, producers and quality assurance workers.” If it succeeds, it will be the first union at Activision Blizzard to include employees outside of quality assurance, Bloomberg says. Proletariat’s unionizing efforts mark the third push to organize that the company has seen this year, with Raven Software organizing in January and employees at Blizzard Albany voting to unionize earlier this month.
Employees at Activision Blizzard have continued to organize despite alleged threats from the company, which was charged by the National Labor Relations Board in May with violating the National Labor Relations Act, or NLRA, which states that it’s unlawful for employers to interfere with or dissuade employees seeking to organize a union.
The video game workers’ unionizing efforts are happening at the same time as the Federal Trade Commission attempts to block Microsoft from purchasing Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, arguing that the merger will harm competition among video game console makers.
Activision Blizzard didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
