ABK Workers Alliance plan staff walkout following Roe v Wade ruling

ABK Workers Alliance, a group of workers from Activision Blizzard, has planned a walkout on July 21.

The plan: The group announced the decision via Twitter on July 6.

• The Committee Against Sex and Gender Discrimination has devised the walkout as a response to the reversal of Roe vs. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• ABK Workers Alliance is looking to receive "protection" for several communities of workers within the company as "women, LGBTQ+ employees, and their families" face the new legislation.
• "Our walk-out demands focus on the protections of ABK employees from external threats like the recent overturn of Roe V. Wade, and internal threats such as retaliation and harassment while in the workplace," the group said in its Twitter thread.

The goal: It has a list of demands for the company.

• The group states that the walkout is happening as Activision Blizzard's current healthcare policies don't "adequately" protect the company's employees.
• Suggestions made to address such issues over the past year have been dismissed, according to the ABK Workers Alliance, and now it's demanding change.
• It hopes to produce a result that allows workers to "safely, affordably, and legally" maintain access to abortions and trans-affirming healthcare.
• Specifically, it wants assistance with relocation, the ability to work remotely, cost of living adjustments for employees to be able to move to another state or country to work around the legislation, and for leadership to regularly meet with the Committee Against Sex and Gender Discrimination.

The legislation: The Supreme Court recently overruled a legal ruling from 1973 that made abortion legal across the U.S.

• Many game development companies spoke out shortly after the ruling to voice their support for abortion rights.
• Activision Blizzard was one of the vocal entities, stating: "Maintaining a safe and inclusive environment for all is a top priority for Activision Blizzard and includes supporting the physical and mental well-being of everyone who works here, including their dependents."
• "Earlier in June, we announced our expanded medical travel benefits to include coverage for US employees and their dependents who participate in our medical plans and live in areas where access to medical care, including reproductive health, gender-affirming treatment, transplant care, and any other medical care covered by our plans that is not available in a covered person's state, or within 100 miles of where they live," it continued.