Microsoft has confirmed it will honour its labour neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America following its historical acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

In a post on Microsoft’s blog, vice chair and president Brad Smith said: “As Microsoft has closed its transaction to acquire Activision Blizzard, we affirm our commitment to our labour principles and innovative approach to union partnerships.

“Microsoft remains steadfast in our support of our current and future employees in whatever choice they make about their workplace and their representatives. We look forward to meeting, listening to and learning from our new Activision Blizzard employees and continuing our collaborative engagement with CWA and the workers it represents.”

The labour neutrality agreement was announced in June 2022, and is due to take effect 60 days after the closure of the ABK acquisition by Microsoft. It includes five commitments from Microsoft to respect employees’ choice to unionise, maintain their privacy should they wish it, and facilitate their right to communicate, among others.

Following this agreement last year, the CWA dropped its concerns about the acquisition and campaigned for it to be approved. Back in 2021, the CWA had accused Activision Blizzard of union busting.

The ABK deal finally went through last week, having initially been announced on January 18, 2022.