Irvine, Calif. – Today, workers on Blizzard’s Story and Franchise Development (SFD) team strongly voted in favor of union representation with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), either by signing a union authorization card or indicating that they wanted union representation via an online portal. The workers will be members of CWA Local 9510 in Orange County, Calif., and Microsoft has recognized their union.
“After more than a decade working at Blizzard, I’ve seen all the highs and lows. For years, Blizzard has been a place where people could build their careers and stay for decades, but that stability’s been fading,” said Bucky Fisk, a principal editor and member of the organizing committee. “With a union, we’re able to preserve what makes this place special, secure real transparency in how decisions are made, and make sure policies are applied fairly to everyone.”
“These past couple of months have felt both important and cathartic given what’s happened to video game workers across the industry,” said Sammi Kay, an associate producer and member of the organizing committee. “At multiple points in my life, I’ve always been told to accept the way things are, but with organizing, we’re able to build a future better than we found it.”
The SFD team is Blizzard’s in-house cinematics, animation, and narrative team, producing the trailers, promotional videos, in-game cutscenes, and other narrative content for Blizzard franchises—as well as franchise archival workers and historians. These workers will be the first in-house cinematic, animation, and narrative studio to form a union in the North American game industry, joining nearly 3,000 workers at Microsoft-owned studios who have organized with CWA to build better standards across the video game industry after Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023.
“Our department has some of the most talented and dedicated people I’ve ever worked with. I’m excited that we have joined together in forming a union to protect my colleagues from things like misguided policies and instability as a result of layoffs,” said John Giarratana, a cinematic producer and member of the organizing committee. “People at our studio love working here, and I think that organizing gives us an opportunity to make our workplace better and safer.”
“These workers are setting the standard for animation, cinematics, and storytelling across the video game industry, creating the breathtaking cutscenes, trailers, and other narrative content that fans have come to love across all Blizzard franchises. We are excited to have them join our union family,” said CWA Local 9510 President Jason Justice. “Their decision to organize is another powerful step toward ensuring that every worker at Blizzard and Microsoft has a seat at the table to shape the conditions under which their art is made.”
The announcement is the latest update in organizing the tech and video game industry, as over 6,000 workers in the United States and Canada have organized with the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) since launching over five years ago. Last week, workers at Raven Software secured a historic contract with Microsoft, joining ZeniMax QA developers at CWA, who also secured a contract with the company in June.
###
About CODE-CWA
The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.
cwa-union.org @cwaunion
Source link
