Unionised Blizzard workers vote through contract giving them a say on genAI adoption and protection against layoffs

"An industry first"

Unionised Blizzard workers have voted to ratify a new contract with their employer that will "require" Blizzard to negotiate with workers over any usage of generative AI tools in their workplace, in addition to giving laid-off workers the right to be "recalled" into open positions across Blizzard for 14 months after the date of their layoff announcement.

The new contract covers around 1900 staff, including people working on World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft Rumble, Overwatch, and Diablo, together with members of Blizzard’s quality assurance, Platform & Technology and Story and Franchise Development units.

"The union contracts reinforce several workplace benefits that set industry-wide standards for video game workers in the United States," reads a statement sent to RPS by umbrella union the Communications Workers of America. "Alongside wage increases, grievance procedures, a three-day in-office hybrid workweek, 'just cause' protections, remote work and disability accommodations, the contracts now require Blizzard to discuss, evaluate, and bargain over the usage of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

"In an industry first, the new union contracts give workers the right to be 'recalled' into open positions across any Blizzard bargaining unit for 14 months from the date of their layoff announcement," it goes on. The union organisers have also won four extra weeks of severance for union workers, regardless of the length of their tenure.

There's been a swathe of unionisation efforts across Blizzard in the past couple of years. It reflects anxiety about worker precarity under Microsoft, as the trillion dollar company pushes to grow profits.

Today's announcement comes in the shadow of on-going Xbox workforce cutbacks. The latest round began in July with the departure of 1600 people and proposals to do away with another 1600.

You can read more about the CWA and their industry-wide union drive in Nic's (RPS in peace) interview from back in 2024. Microsoft's gaming division also continue to be subject to a BDS boycott in light of their parent company's business relationships with the Israeli military.