Activision Blizzard, which had decided to scrap the company’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement and require all employees to return to in-person work, has updated that policy to allow leadership at individual divisions to determine their own policies. On Friday, ABK Workers Alliance announced a walkout scheduled for today over three demands made over the original policies on vaccine mandates and return to office policy.
Since the original return to office demands and end of vaccine mandates company wide were made public, the workers group announced a walkout with three demands: “An immediate reversal to lifting the vaccine requirement. Remote work should be offered as a permanent solution. The decision to work remote or in office should be made by each individual employee.”
Later on April 1st, Chief Administrative Officer Brian Bulatao sent a followup email to employees with updates. In the email, he states “For the majority of our employees, we are still operating under a voluntary return to office opportunity” and says that while the company wide vaccine mandate has ended, leadership of individual divisions of Activision, Blizzard, and King can “determine the policies that work best for their employees and locations based on local conditions and risk”.
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier later reported that Blizzard’s Mike Ybarra emailed staff to inform that the company will continue requiring vaccination for at least a few more months. Other employees have also shared that other divisions of the company have reinstated their vaccine mandates.
At the same time, Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra emailed staff saying they'll continue to require vaccination for at least the next few months and that about 80% of their employees in Irvine, Austin, and Albany have uploaded proof of vaccination
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 1, 2022
ABK has not updated on the status of its planned walkout, but it is still scheduled for today at 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT.
While the vaccine mandate is still alive among certain companies within Activision Blizzard King, Bulatao’s email does seem to indicate that remote work is going to continue to be a potential sticking point. “We will continue to clarify our plans as we get closer to our full return date,” the email ends.
UPDATE: ABK has revised its demands, as the walkout is set to go on as planned:
1. Make working from home an open and equitable option for all employees2. Reverse the lifting of the vaccine mandate for all other studios who haven't yet walked it back
— ABetterABK ?? ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) April 4, 2022
Update #2: Due to bad weather, the demonstration has moved online.
Due to weather conditions and some members falling ill over the weekend, our in-person demonstrations have been cancelled in favor of a digital demonstration. As of this writing, at least 117 members of the company have walked out in solidarity. #SickOfThis #GameWorkersUnite
— ABetterABK ?? ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) April 4, 2022
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