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The union believes that the merger will provide an opportunity to address power imbalances in labor markets.
Chris Shelton, president of the Communications Workers of America, has urged the European Commission to grant approval for Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, citing its potential to have a beneficial impact on the labor market.
Shelton wrote a letter to Margrethe Vestager, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, highlighting the difficulties workers faced in attempting to unionize at Activision Blizzard in recent years.
"Since 2021, CWA has been supporting workers at Activision Blizzard to organize a union," Shelton wrote. "They have faced management intransigence at every turn."
He mentioned CWA's previous concerns about the potential negative impact on workers' rights and wages as a result of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. However, according to him, after raising these concerns, Microsoft agreed to certain commitments to ensure workers at Activision Blizzard have the ability to engage in collective bargaining, which, as CWA believes, is an effective way to balance out the influence of employers in the job market.
"Microsoft’s binding commitments will give employees a seat at the table and ensure that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard benefits the company's workers and the broader video game labor market," Shelton's letter reads. "Collective bargaining is an effective counterbalance to employer power over the labor market, as is well documented in empirical research."
Shelton urged the European Commission to consider the potential impact of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard on the video game labor market when making its decision. He expressed hope that the regulator will approve the merger, as he believes it presents an opportunity to address power imbalances in labor markets.
You can find Chris Shelton's letter to Margrethe Vestager here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.