Activision Blizzard employees will go on strike to protest the company’s leadership and support California’s lawsuit on allegations of harassment and bullying.
The strike will be held tomorrow, July 28, at Blizzard’s campus in Irvine, California.
Following the news of the strike, the company’s employees issued an official statement, which listed a list of requirements that the company’s executives are expected to comply with (thanks to GI.biz).
According to employees, the strike was due in part to Activision Blizzard’s statement on the lawsuit last week and Frances Townsend’s comments in internal emails.
Another reason for the strike is to stand with current and former employees in the shared stories because they do not believe that they are regarded as employees due to the words and deeds of the current leadership of the company.
Employee appeals are calling on the company to improve the conditions of all employees, especially women, transgender women, women of color and other marginalized groups.
They want to terminate the mandatory arbitration in current and future employee contracts. According to employees, these provisions protect the abuser and limit the victim’s ability to seek compensation.
It also noted the desire to improve the company’s recruitment and promotion policies, because for the time being, employees stated that they did not consider representatives. According to the list of needs, compared with men, current practices have resulted in marginalized groups being discriminated against and are not being fairly hired for new roles. Employees hope to establish a diversified, fair and inclusive organization within the company to increase representation at all levels.
Employees also hope that Activision Blizzard will release wages and profit sharing data on the company’s gender and race. It is said that the company’s practices have found that the above-mentioned groups have not received fair remuneration or promotion.
Finally, employees hope that the company’s DE&I organization will hire a third party to audit the report structure, executives, and human resources department. Employees say this is “imperative” because it will determine how the company’s current system fails in terms of employee harassment.
The strike will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pacific time. The protesters demand that those standing with them donate to charities, such as non-violent futures, black girl code, RAINN, code girl, international game women, and animated women.
Due to Blizzard’s current climate, almost all World of Warcraft work has ceased, and more than 2,000 current and former employees have signed a petition condemning Activision Blizzard’s response to the California lawsuit.
