SEGA workers are forming a union
Reading Time: 2 minutesA group of 144 workers are forming a union at SEGA’s American headquarters in Irvine, California. SEGA follows in the footsteps of workers at other gaming companies like Microsoft-owned ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, which both unionized last year.
SEGA’s union stands out from its peers in the gaming industry’s burgeoning labor movement, since it spans across departments. Union members, who organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA), work in marketing, product design, localization, quality assurance and more.
Em Geiger, a temp editor in localization who has been at SEGA since 2018, thinks that the union was able to unite multiple departments because workers have had the opportunity to connect with their peers across disciplines.
Geiger says that this unionization effort has been in the works for a long time, and was not a direct response to union efforts at other gaming companies. However, the successful union efforts at other studios have been affirming.
‘It certainly did inspire confidence, seeing so many other gaming companies finally asserting their rights to organize, and going public with their efforts,’ they said. ‘We are very lucky to be riding this wave of people who are starting to show more support for the idea of unions in general.’
The union, known as AEGIS (Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA), is advocating for higher base pay, improved benefits like healthcare, retirement and remote work options, clearer opportunities for advancement, and increased staffing to combat overwork and burnout. The concept of ‘crunch’ — or, working extreme hours to meet a deadline to release a game — is endemic to the gaming industry, spurring this sudden movement of unionization at studios.
Microsoft, which houses many gaming divisions, has a legally binding labor neutrality agreement, which means that it will not stand in the way of union organizing. This isn’t the norm in the tech sphere. Activision Blizzard, which is expected to become part of Microsoft if its merger isn’t blocked by the government, has been found by the NLRB to have unlawfully retaliated against unionizing workers.
When it comes to SEGA, temp QA tester Winry Ramsey, who has been in this role since August, isn’t quite sure how the company will respond.
Reference: https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/24/sega-union-gaming/
Ref: techcrunch
MediaDownloader.net -> Free Online Video Downloader, Download Any Video From YouTube, VK, Vimeo, Twitter, Twitch, Tumblr, Tiktok, Telegram, TED, Streamable, Soundcloud, Snapchat, Share, Rumble, Reddit, PuhuTV, Pinterest, Periscope, Ok.ru, MxTakatak, Mixcloud, Mashable, LinkedIn, Likee, Kwai, Izlesene, Instagram, Imgur, IMDB, Ifunny, Gaana, Flickr, Febspot, Facebook, ESPN, Douyin, Dailymotion, Buzzfeed, BluTV, Blogger, Bitchute, Bilibili, Bandcamp, Akıllı, 9GAG