SEGA Workers From Multiple Departments Are Unionizing Under The CWA
It's game on for a group of employees at Sega of America who have decided to level up their rights by unionizing. The group, comprised of 144 workers based in Sega's Irvine, CA office, has filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
The Verge, who spoke with some of the workers ahead of their announcement, reported the news. The workers are banding together with the help of Communications Workers of America (CWA) and calling themselves Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS).
Unlike other unionization efforts led by QA workers, this group of AEGIS employees come from different departments, making it the largest game industry union composed of various departments. According to their mission statement, the group's aim is to create "games made by people who make a living wage."
It took the employees over a year to get to this point, but they remain hopeful that management will recognize their efforts. "We are doing this because we respect our coworkers and we want to be able to make a sustainable workplace," said Torie Winkler, a community manager with Sega.
AEGIS's push to unionize follows successful efforts at multiple studios, including Activision Blizzard-owned Raven Software and Blizzard Albany. ZeniMax, who unionized QA employees across multiple offices, found success after parent company Microsoft pledged neutrality towards unionization efforts. It looks like it's game over for anti-union sentiment in the gaming industry.
