Blizzard Unions Secure Industry-First Recall Rights and AI Protections in New Mega-Contract
After two years of stalled negotiations, Blizzard Entertainment has ratified a comprehensive union contract covering 1,900 employees across all unionized units, including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo teams. The agreement, brokered with Microsoft, establishes significant protections against layoffs, including 14-month recall rights for any qualified position and severance up to 39 weeks. It also locks in hybrid and remote work schedules, sets salary floors ranging from $51,840 to $70,400, and mandates impact bargaining for AI implementation. Workers described the final month of negotiations as intense, with mobilization efforts and the threat of prolonged bargaining cycles pressuring management to consolidate terms across all units rather than negotiating individually.