SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Freedom of association and collective bargaining are internationally recognized human rights according to the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work1 and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.2 The United Nations’ Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights urge companies to “know and show” that they respect human rights by adopting “a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights.”3
According to Activision’s 2021 annual report, none of its U.S. employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and that while “[w]e deeply respect the rights of all employees to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union,” Activision also prefers “a direct relationship between managers and team members.”4 In contrast to Activision’s preference for maintaining a direct (i.e., union free) relationship with its employees, Microsoft announced that it would remain neutral if its employees express interest in joining a union.5
In October 2022, Region 18 of National Labor Relations Board found merit in allegations that Activision had withheld raises from workers because of their union activity after quality assurance testers working for Activision subsidiary Raven Software voted to unionize.6 In May 2022, Region 31 of the National Labor Relations Board found merit in allegations that Activision illegally threatened workers and enforced a social media policy that conflicts with workers’ rights.7 Activision has denied these allegations and they have not been adjudicated.
We believe this proposal will also help address human rights risks at Activision’s operations in other countries where freedom of association and collective bargaining may not be adequately protected by local law. We note that as of December 31, 2021, Activision had approximately 25 percent of its employees in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and approximately 7 percent in the Asia Pacific region.8
For these reasons, we urge shareholders to vote FOR this resolution.
1 https://www.ilo.org/declaration/lang‐‐en/index.htm2 https://www.un.org/en/about‐us/universal‐declaration‐of‐human‐rights3 https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf 4 https://investor.activision.com/static‐files/d7b4f08d‐213b‐4bd5‐a41b‐7497baa9c1065 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/business/microsoft‐activision‐game‐union.html6 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/technology/activision‐nlrb‐ruling.html7 https://fortune.com/2022/05/23/activision‐blizzard‐illegally‐threatened‐staff‐us‐labor‐officials‐find/8 https://investor.activision.com/static‐files/d7b4f08d‐213b‐4bd5‐a41b‐7497baa9c106