Punching In: Union Charge on Chat Access Revives Speech Debate

Monday morning musings for workplace watchers.

Company Chat Case|Contractors’ Challenge

Ian Kullgren: Activision Blizzard Inc. workers may have given the Democratic majority at the NLRB the perfect chance to reinstate a union-friendly legal standard regarding access to company email and chats.

The newly unionized designers for Activision Blizzard filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Aug. 15 accusing management of spying on workers and booting them off an internal chat about wages, hours, and working conditions.

All of those subjects are protected speech under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, which gives both union and ...