The shareholders of Activision-Blizzard are about to come together to vote on a variety of company proposals, and one of those proposals might raise a few eyebrows, as if adopted it would effectively force the company to stay out of the way of organizing game devs.
The proposal in question is Proposal 6, which suggests a “freedom of association and collective bargaining policy” that, among other things, urges the company to publicly commit to “respect the international human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining,” prohibits Activision management from undermining organizing workers, and requires that ABK describes the process it will use to “identify, prevent, mitigate and account for any violations of these rights.”
The proposal was submitted by AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds, the investment arm of AFL-CIO, one of the largest union groups in America, and it has apparently garnered the support of corporate governance specialist Glass Lewis, who argues that adoption of this proposal will “allay potential controversies” that come from “allegations of anti-union activity [that can cause] significant reputational harm and result in regulatory or legal risk.”
Unsurprisingly, ActiBlizz is against the proposal and is suggesting that shareholders vote “no” on the matter:
“We believe this proposal introduces unnecessary risk to shareholders. The proposal states that collective bargaining is a human right, and we agree with that statement. […] But the Glass Lewis analysis of this proposal is inconsistent with its aims. It neglects key facts and contains assertions that are factually inaccurate, statements that could confuse or mislead shareholders.”
The company response then goes on to claim that anyone can file an unfair labor practice allegation with the National Labor Relations Board, that the proposal undermines the company’s free speech rights, and that some ULPs were recently withdrawn (under pressure from ABK). We do think it’s important to point out that those ULPs were withdrawn after union pressure changed company behavior, not out of the goodness of the company’s heart. There’s also the long lineup of overt union-busting from the company along with Bobby Kotick calling unionization efforts “aggressive” and “destabilizing”.
Voting on this proposal and others is set for this Wednesday.
