Jessica Gonzalez (labor organizer)

Jessica Gonzalez (born 1992 or 1993)[1] is an American labor organizer working with CODE-CWA, the Communication Workers of America's Campaign to Organize Digital Employees. She is known for her work organizing in the video game industry and founding A Better ABK, the worker advocacy group at Activision Blizzard, and co-founding ABK Workers Alliance, a solidarity union, and Game Workers Alliance, the Raven Software union.

Jessica Gonzalez
Born1992 or 1993 (age 30–31)
OccupationLabor organizer
EmployerCODE-CWA
Known forLabor organizing
Notable workA Better ABK

ABK Workers Alliance

Game Workers Alliance

Career and activism
See also: Activision Blizzard worker organization

Gonzalez joined Activision Blizzard (ABK) in 2015 as a quality assurance (QA) tester. She left the company for a few years to work for Boundless Entertainment, but returned to ABK in 2019 until leaving the company in 2021 due to what she alleged to be a hostile working environment.[2][3][4] She worked briefly for a financial tech company following her departure,[5] while working part-time as an organizer with CODE-CWA. She later joined CODE-CWA full-time.[2][6]

Gonzalez also alleged that in QA at ABK, testers were treated as "second-class citizens", which ABK denies.[2] A former colleague told Axios that Gonzalez "was the spark that started the explosion", referring to the founding of A Better ABK,[7] which was founded in 2021 following a walkout in protest of the company's response to accusations of sexual harassment and discrimination.[8] Gonzalez and the worker organizers staged further walkouts during 2021 and 2022.[9]

Shortly after leaving ABK, Gonzalez, along with other A Better ABK organizers, started a strike fund on GoFundMe to help organizers take unpaid time off to participate in the group's walk-outs.[10]

In 2021, Gonzalez helped form ABK Workers' Alliance.[11]

In 2022, she and former colleague Josh Miller began a podcast on the streaming platform Twitch called Weekly Standup discussing worker's rights and unionization in tech.[12] Also in 2022, Gonzalez appealed the $18 million settlement Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's concurrent California Department of Fair Employment and Housing v. Activision Blizzard lawsuit,[2] which was struck down by the courts on March 22, 2022.[13]

In 2022, Gonzalez co-founded Game Workers Alliance (GWA), a union made up of QA testers at Raven Software, a Subsidiary of ABK.[14] GWA is the first labor union at a AAA games developer.[15] Also in 2022, she, along with 11 other current and former ABK employees, formed an anti-discrimination committee.[16]

Personal life

Gonzalez lives in San Pedro, Los Angeles.[17]

See also

References
  1. Browning, Kellen (May 23, 2022). "A Vote by Activision Workers Could Give Unions a Foothold in Gaming". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  2. Klar, Rebecca (July 18, 2022). "Changing the game in gaming". The Hill. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  3. Farokhmanesh, Megan (November 30, 2021). "Activision Blizzard walkout organizer resigns". Axios. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  4. Franzese, Tomas (December 2021). "This major Activision Blizzard resignation exposes a troubling new trend". Inverse. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  5. Wille, Matt (December 2021). "One of Activision's top organizers just walked out for good". Input. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  6. Francis, Bryant Francis (July 22, 2022). "Devs protest Activision Blizzard's response to abortion rights crisis". Game Developer. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  7. Farokhmanesh, Megan (November 30, 2021). "Activision Blizzard walkout organizer resigns". Axios. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  8. "Activision Blizzard employees file unfair labor practice suit against company". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  9. Browning, Kellen (January 21, 2022). "Workers at an Activision game studio say they are forming a union". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  10. Totilo, Stephen; Farokhmanesh, Megan (December 9, 2021). "Activision Blizzard union efforts intensify". Axios. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  11. Limbong, Andrew (February 17, 2022). "Will Activision Blizzard workers unionize? Microsoft's deal complicates things". NPR.org. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  12. Bell, Brian (March 9, 2022). "With New Series Weekly Standup, Former Activision Blizzard Employees Are Raising Their Voices On Workers' Rights, Unionization". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  13. Liao, Shannon (March 22, 2022). "Judge likely to approve $18 million Activision Blizzard sexual harassment suit settlement". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  14. Limbong, Andrew (May 24, 2022). "The Activision Blizzard union vote could signal a big change in the video game world". NPR.org. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  15. Farokhmanesh, Megan. "Video Gaming Got Its First Major Union. Now What?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  16. Liao, Shannon (May 24, 2022). "Activision Blizzard worker committee demands anti-discrimination reform". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  17. "@_TechJess" (Jessica Gonzalez) on Twitter
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.