Workers at Sega of America, a division of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., have officially ratified their union contract, . This makes it one of the first major North American video-game companies to take this step, which could bode well for future organized labor pushes in the industry.
The contract was ratified after workers last year. It covers around 150 people working in various departments throughout the company, including brand marketing, games as a service, localization, sales and quality assurance. The union is called the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA) and it organizes with the .
There are already some provisions in place for workers as part of the contract, including a minimum pay increase of 4 percent in 2024, 3 percent in 2025 and 2.5 percent in 2026. There are also layoff protections, codified benefits like health insurance, a severance inclusion and a commitment to credit all workers on games.
“We’re hopeful that in the midst of extensive layoffs, workers across the video game industry will see organizing as a pathway to improve working conditions for all of us,” wrote Jasmin Hernandez, a member of AEGIS-CWA, in a statement provided to Engadget.
Sega wasn’t exactly happy about the push toward labor rights and unionization. The company faced an unfair labor practice complaint after it announced plans of the union’s bargaining unit. The company , as promised, but the union was able to reach an agreement to keep many workers employed.
Labor is having a moment in the games industry. ZeniMax Workers United joined with the CWA last year to to 300 quality assurance workers. Over 600 Activision QA testers , making it the in video games. Avalanche Studios, Raven Software and several small development studios have all also unionized in the past year or so.
