Activision Blizzard responds to work stoppage over canceled vaccination orders

Some Activision Blizzard employees will walk away Monday after the company dropped its vaccination mandate before returning to work in the coming months. Update on the relaxed COVID-19 plan was leaked on social media following an email from Activision Blizzard executive Brian Bulatao.

In the email, Bulatao said that as of now, vaccines are no longer required for staff to return to the office. Activision Blizzard employees are expected to return to work offices in the coming months, although they will right away Affect those currently working in the office. Bulatao cited lifting vaccination requirements “across the US” as COVID-19 cases surge in Asia and Europe. according to Vox. Some experts believe a new wave is coming — or has already begun — in the United States. reported the New York Times.

Following Bulatao’s email, some Activision Blizzard employees began publicly opposing the dropped requirement. The ABK Workers Alliance, a group formed after Activision Blizzard’s first sexual harassment lawsuit last year and which has since staged several work stoppages, announced the walkout on Friday — scheduled to take place on Monday, April 4. A representative of the group did not have an estimated number of participants.

The group is calling on Activision Blizzard to reverse the dropped vaccination requirement, offer remote work as a “permanent solution,” and allow workers to make those work-from-home decisions individually. Supporters and participants can follow the strike using two hashtags: #SickOfThis and #GameWorkersUnite.

“As part of the return to office, Blizzard and Activision Blizzard conducted several feedback sessions and surveys over the course of three months, at the end of which they decided to mandate the vaccine for workers coming into office,” said an ABK Workers representative Alliance igamesnews. “This was the agreement under which people agreed to come back. This latest change was not implemented by any staff before it was announced.”

The representative added that studio management had not been informed or consulted. “This reversal puts people at risk of infection. I and many other employees are upset that our company is pushing for a mandatory return to office once this restriction is lifted.”

Activision Blizzard employees have resigned from their jobs several times in 2021, the first time in July 2021 following the company’s “despicable and abusive” response to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s lawsuit alleging serious allegations of sexism and harassment were uncovered of World of Warcraft

and Call of Duty editors. After a Wall Street Journal report detailing Kotick’s alleged involvement in minimizing reports of employee misconduct, workers again walked out of the office in November, demanding the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick.

In December, Activision Blizzard employees left the company again after saying a number of QA employees had been laid off. The strike led to a strike that ended when workers announced a union organizing effort at the company. Called the Game Workers Alliance, these workers are awaiting a decision from the National Labor Relations Board on the possible scope of the union.

To update: Following the strike announcement, Bulatao sent a second email to Activision Blizzard employees, writing that despite the company-wide policy, the leadership of Activision Publishing, Blizzard and King “can determine the processes and policies that apply to them on people and locations work best based on local conditions and risks.”

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier tweeted that Blizzard President Mike Ybarra emailed staff shortly after, saying Blizzard would maintain its vaccination requirements “at least for the next few months.”

A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard also provided the following statement in an email to Polygon:

The health and safety of our employees is paramount in everything we do, including our return to the office policy. Although Activision Blizzard’s immunization mandate has been lifted in the US, we are still operating under a voluntary return to office for the majority of our employees. Additionally, employees who do not feel comfortable returning to the office are encouraged to work with their manager and our HR team to explore options for work arrangements that suit their individual situation. We will continue to monitor the conditions and make adjustments to the policy as necessary.

We understand that some employees may participate in a work stoppage to voice their views. The company supports the right of our employees to speak their minds in a safe and non-threatening manner and will not retaliate for any decision to participate in this strike. The company also hopes that those leaving the home will behave legally, safely and non-violently.