Activision Blizzard’s labor dispute with QA employees at Blizzard Albany took a very bizarre flip this week. After the National Labor Relations Board gave the go-ahead for Game Workers Alliance Albany to carry a unionization vote (votes might be formally counted subsequent month), newly-hired Activision Blizzard govt vp of company affairs and chief communications officer
(and former board member) Lulu Cheng Meservey took to a read-only Slack channel to handle Blizzard Albany.

Images of Meservey’s message would make their solution to social media. She would observe them with a sequence of social media posts that appear misguided at finest and antagonistic at worst.

Nothing she wrote will shock readers who’ve adopted Activision Blizzard’s response to unionization efforts on the firm. Meservey wrote that whereas Activision Blizzard respects the NLRB course of, it has the view that “individuals who work carefully collectively ought to have the ability to make selections like that collectively,” and that “a handful of staff” mustn’t resolve the way forward for Albany-area recreation builders engaged on the Diablo sequence.

“We assume a direct dialogue between firm and staff is the best route,” Meservey mentioned. It’s the identical argument the corporate has given to press in response to continued labor motion at totally different branches of Activision Blizzard, and it appears so uniform throughout company America which you can hear it repeated by executives at Chipotle and Starbucks.

Given how we have heard these feedback earlier than by Activision Blizzard management, I personally did not discover the message that outrageous. But Meservey’s conduct afterward caught me unexpectedly.

In response to a tweet from journalist Matt Binder, Meservey wrote the next: “I’m curious what makes me proper wing? Or is it not meant to be literal, however simply an insult for defending the corporate’s place that staff ought to think about causes they may need to keep impartial as a substitute of changing into union members?”

When pressed on this response by Binder, she replied: “Which half is true wing? Genuinely curious. Or do you imply that left wing is related to unions, and so something questions unions is due to this fact proper wing?”

Then in response to a different Twitter person commenting that Meservey labored for a 50-billion greenback firm, Meservey wrote this: “We’re nearer to 60 billion {dollars}.”

…what’s going on right here?

Activision Blizzard execs appear to like being combative

Debating whether or not Meservey’s phrases and actions are “right-wing” is a ineffective train. It is true that an individual can describe themselves as liberal or centrist and nonetheless be against unions. Ideological purity assessments are a waste of time, actions communicate louder than beliefs, and particular person politics will be everywhere in the map.

The actual query is: why is an Activision Blizzard govt choosing a Twitter battle within the midst of a tense labor dispute?

I clearly do not count on that Activision Blizzard has any management over Meservey’s private Twitter account. I do count on that company leaders navigating a second of disaster ought to acknowledge the impression of their phrases and the way which may anger or intimidate staff.

Meservey’s public tweets don’t give an impression of such self-awareness.

Across social media, we have seen former Blizzard builders (non-Blizzard colleagues) specific anxiousness or frustration over Meservey’s phrases. Jokes in regards to the catchphrase of former Meta exec Sheryl Sandberg—”Lean In“—are bouncing across the neighborhood, and the phrase “gaslight gatekeep girlboss” (a snarky parody of company leaders who preach feminism however apply ruthlessness) has crossed our feeds as nicely. 

(Not for nothing, Sandberg herself has been linked to Activision Blizzard’s mess because of her personal scandals. What a world.)

Meservey joins Activision Blizzard chief administrative officer Brian Bulatao in being one other company govt occurring the offensive in opposition to organizing recreation builders. Where Bulatao warned staff to “think about the implications,” Meservey has chosen to select fights on Twitter—fights she was by no means obligated to hitch within the first place. (Bulatao was additionally allegedly described as a “bully” throughout his time on the US State Department.)

We’re nearer to 60 billion {dollars} https://t.co/YwScv5J58H

— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) October 20, 2022

To navigate a labor dispute just like the one Activision Blizzard is dealing with, firm leaders ought to be doing their finest to take duty and assume management. Expressing empathy for the plight of their employees would go quite a bit additional than snarky tweets. 

It’s quite a bit more durable to imagine somebody has concern for the truth that you are residing paycheck to paycheck in the event that they’re leaping on-line to right folks in regards to the market worth of their employer.

Maybe that is what Activision Blizzard desires

Is this conduct what Meservey’s bosses are searching for in govt hires? The former Substack exec made waves earlier this 12 months for writing “If you’re a Twitter worker who’s contemplating resigning since you’re frightened about Elon Musk pushing for much less regulated speech…please don’t come work right here” earlier this 12 months. Was that combativeness a trait that CEO Bobby Kotick and firm have been searching for?

You might even evaluate Meservey’s tweets to the general public determine she praised again at Substack: Elon Musk. Musk not solely shoots off transphobic tweets and texts about bringing right-wing figures again onto Twitter, however he will get into it together with his critics. 

All of this may be a lot simpler to write down off if not for the truth that Activision Blizzard purportedly employed Meservey to create a tradition of “creativity and excellence.” How on Earth does this conduct foster such a tradition? How can anybody really feel impressed creatively if that is who they reply to? How can one obtain excellence if they do not really feel they’ve the appropriate to advocate for themselves and their coworkers?

If that is who Activision Blizzard is sending to have a “direct relationship” with builders…no marvel they need to head to the bargaining desk.

We have reached out to Activision Blizzard for touch upon Meservey’s statements and can replace this story when it responds.