‘When both labor and management bring their voices to the bargaining table, employees, shareholders and customers alike benefit.’
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Microsoft has been going out of its way to encourage regulators to approve its proposed $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard, and in its latest move, the company is running an ad in The Washington Post spelling out the tech giant’s acceptance of unions. The ad is co-signed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which represents workers in industries like communications and media.
“As we enter a new year, we remain committed to creating the best workplaces we can for people who make a living in the tech sector,” the beginning of the ad reads. “When both labor and management bring their voices to the bargaining table, employees, shareholders and customers alike benefit.”
Microsoft also acknowledged the new ZeniMax Media union, which it formally recognized this week, as well as the labor neutrality agreement it struck with the CWA in June. “During 2023, we hope to bring the same agreement and principles to Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft has proposed to require,” Microsoft writes in the ad.
The ad is appearing about a month after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to attempt to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard purchase. In its original response to the suit, Microsoft argued that the structure of the FTC violated the US Constitution, but it walked back that rather large claim this week. Microsoft basically apologized for that in its newspaper ad, too, by recognizing the “spirit” that led Congress to establish the agency.
You can see the full ad in the image below. We’ve transcribed the full text below the image to make it easier to read.
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A New Year Opens New Doors
As we enter a new year, we remain committed to creating the best workplaces we can for people who make a living in the tech sector. When both labor and management bring their voices to the bargaining table, employees, shareholders and customers alike benefit.
This includes the more than 300 employees at Microsoft’s ZeniMax Media studios who have exercised their legal right to vote to form a union. This is in keeping with new groundbreaking labor neutrality principles that the Communications Workers of America and Microsoft established last year. During 2023, we hope to bring the same agreement and principles to Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft has proposed to acquire.
We aren’t asking the FTC to ignore competition concerns. On the contrary, we believe it’s important to explore solutions that protect competition and consumers while also promoting the needs of workers, economic growth and American innovation.
We believe this is the spirit that led Congress to establish the FTC in 1914.
It’s a spirit worth keeping alive today.
wazup.