The Activision Blizzard King Workers Alliance has announced its intent to strike today. To help them endure the harsh realities of striking without any financial help from a union, the ABK Workers Alliance has also set up a GoFundMe to help offset lost wages.
"We encourage our peers in the Game Industry to stand with us in creating lasting change,” wrote ABetterABK on Twitter earlier today. “For those who wish to join in solidarity, please consider donating to our Strike Fund."
The GoFundMe was set up by Jessica Gonzales, a senior test analyst at Blizzard and activist. The fund's goal is to raise $1 million to both distribute among striking workers and to assist with the potential relocation costs of the fired Raven Software QA testers who lost their jobs last Friday and sparked a wider call for a strike within the company.
Since the terminations, Raven Soft's QA team has walked off the job, effectively bringing development at the studio to a halt. Many of the employees let go last week were promised a full-time position if they moved to a new office in Wisconsin without any financial assistance from Activision Blizzard, only to find out they had been made redundant soon after arriving.
This, along with the numerous lawsuits accusing Activision Blizzard of exploiting workers, discriminating against minorities, supporting a culture of sexual harassment, and hiring a union-busting law firm has finally led to wider strike action from all Activision Blizzard employees.
"These, and many other events have caused an alliance of Activision-Blizzard employees to initiate a work stoppage until demands are met and worker representation is finally given a place within the company," reads the GoFundMe.
Pressure is mounting on Activision Blizzard. Just yesterday, an Activision Blizzard worker held a press conference accusing the company of demoting her after reporting sexual harassment to HR. She's hired celebrity lawyer Lisa Bloom to represent her and has demanded Activision Blizzard set up a $100 million fund to pay out victims of sexual harassment within the company.