Workers at World of Warcraft studio Proletariat withdraw union petition

Activision Blizzard saw two unions move into negotiations and a third subsidiary studio began to organize. Boston-based Workers World of WarcraftProletariat, the support studio for workers tried to join the Communications Workers of America. This was just like Raven Software or Blizzard Albany before them. Workers filed their petition on December 31, but they withdrew it Tuesday.

The following statement was made by a representative of Communications Workers of America:

CWA has withdrawn its request for a representation election at Activision Blizzard’s Proletariat studio. Unfortunately, Proletariat CEO Seth Sivak chose to follow Activision Blizzard’s lead and responded to the workers’ desire to form a union with confrontational tactics. Like many founders, he took the workers’ concerns as a personal attack and held a series of meetings that demoralized and disempowered the group, making a free and fair election impossible.

As we have seen at Microsoft’s Zenimax studio, there is another path forward, one that empowers workers through a free and fair process, without intimidation or manipulation by the employer. For better working conditions and higher standards, union workers will be supported by us.

Workers at Proletariat won’t vote for a union after the petition was withdrawn.

Polygon reached out Activision Blizzard to request comment. In January, Media Relations VP Joe Christinat said in a statement that “some employees said they felt pressured to sign union cards, were inadequately informed about what they were signing, and what it meant when they signed.”

Dustin Yost (a Proletariat Software Engineer) stated that initially, most workers had supported the union. The worker said “meetings which framed the conversation as a personal betrayal” to management took a toll on that support. “While we are withdrawing our union election petition today, and truly hope that management will prioritize the concerns that led us to organize, I still believe that a union is the best way for workers in our industry to ensure our voices are being heard,” Yost said.

Proletariat Workers Alliance was looking to secure the company’s current paid time-off plan, as well as flexible remote options, healthcare benefits, and ensuring transparency and diversity are top priorities.

“Our top priority remains our employees, and we value the contributions the talented Proletariat team has made since joining Blizzard this summer,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said in a statement issued to Polygon when the petition was filed. “We received the petition over the holidays and will provide a response to the NLRB next week.”

“At Proletariat and with our peers across the industry, many of us love our jobs,” Proletariat senior engineer Yost told Polygon in early January, before the petition was withdrawn. “We at Proletariat care a lot about our team. To ensure that we can have an impact on the future of the company and our employees, as well as the enjoyment of the content we produce, we want to be able to speak up. Doing right by each other is the goal here.”

Proletariat Workers Alliance was slated to go to a vote with the National Labor Relations Board — the same process that both Raven Software and Blizzard Albany’s QA unions went through. Activision Blizzard challenged the election in both studios’ cases, and sought to expand the proposed bargaining unit beyond QA testers.

Sometimes companies fight for the expansion of a unit in order to weaken union efforts and increase the likelihood of a failed union vote. An NLRB ruling of 2022 allowed organizers to unify smaller units within a company, called micro-units. This puts on the company to show overwhelming evidence to support opening up a unit.

CWA filed numerous unfair labor complaints against Activision Blizzard over its alleged union-busting strategies. Activision Blizzard representatives denied any wrongdoing.

Proletariat was established by Seth Sivak, in 2012. It operated as an independent studio, creating games like SpellbreakAnd StreamLegendsThe studio was owned by Activision Blizzard until 2022, when it was acquired by Blizzard Entertainment. Sivak was now the vice president of Development at Blizzard Entertainment. He oversees Proletariat, a studio based in Boston. World of Warcraft. Polygon was told by Allison Brown (a testing software engineer) that union talk began prior to the acquisition. However, it was around the excitement of being able to work with the company.

“There was a concern that suddenly becoming part of a bigger organization that we might lose some of the things that made Proletariat special,” Brown said.

She continued: “No matter how much trust we have for management […]Things can and will change. I started in the industry 14 years ago, I’ve been laid off more than once. I’ve watched benefits change and get worse. There’s no control over it. But if we’re bargaining collectively, if we get these things in writing, there are mechanisms in place to make sure that we have a voice.”

Proletariat leaders published a blog that denied to recognize the Proletariat Union after the petition had been announced. This forced the union to vote with the National Labor Relations Board. Proletariat leadership described the company as “pro-worker,” and implied that some workers had concerns, which is why management wanted to hold a vote.

Proletariat Workers Alliance refuted that assertion, stating that the refusal to recognize the signatory supermajority is anti-union. “Their actions this week have been right out of the union-busting playbook used by Activision and so many others,” workers wrote in a statement. “Management held a town hall last week which disappointed many of our workers. The meeting was inappropriate due to its anti-union influence.”

Workers continued: “We can decide for ourselves if we want a union. We don’t need help from management. We need — and deserve — respect and neutrality. We are here to support our team, and we want to work with the management in an open manner. We can help make Proletariat the best it can be by having each others backs.”

Activision Blizzard’s response to previous unionizing efforts has been in contrast with Microsoft’s so-called labor neutrality agreement. The agreement, signed with CWA, means that Microsoft will not interfere with organizing efforts at the company — neither with current Microsoft workers, or with workers potentially joining Microsoft as part of its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard (currently subject to a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit).

The agreement was put to the test when ZeniMax Media’s QA staff, which is responsible for many franchises such as Fallout and Doom, declared their intent to unionize. After a quick vote without the NLRB, Microsoft accepted the union. The neutrality agreement allowed the company to bypass a lot the bureaucracy. ZeniMax QA workers voted for union authorization cards. They also created an online portal where a majority of workers supported the union.

January 9, 2009 Update Activision Blizzard commented on the story.

January 10, 2010 Update Proletariat leadership released a blog on Monday in which it refused to recognise the Proletariat Union, forcing the union’s vote to the National Labor Relations Board. Proletariat leadership described the company as “pro-worker.”

Proletariat Workers Alliance refuted that assertion, stating that the refusal to recognize the signatory supermajority is anti-union. “Their actions this week have been right out of the union-busting playbook used by Activision and so many others,” workers wrote in a statement. “Management held a town hall last week which disappointed many of our workers. The meeting was inappropriate due to its anti-union influence.”

Workers continued: “We can decide for ourselves if we want a union. We don’t need help from management. We need — and deserve — respect and neutrality. We are here to support our team, and we want to work with the management in an open manner. We can help make Proletariat the best it can be by having each others backs.”

Updating (January 24, 2019) On Jan. 24, workers at Proletariat withdrew their union petition. The new information has been added to this story.