AEGIS-CWA, Sega of America's unionizing group, has successfully passed the voting phase and has officially become a union. Read on for more details regarding their history and the obstacles they faced.
Sega of America's Workers Successfully Unionized
Voting Results Display Overwhelming Support for the Movement
Workers of Sega of America have successfully unionized following an overwhelming 91-26 vote in favor of the decision. They proudly announced their success in a tweet on the union's Twitter page. They mentioned that their 200+ member union is currently the largest multi-department union of workers in the gaming industry. But in comparison, ZeniMax Workers United has over 300 members at ZeniMax Studios.
This comes after several months of announcing their plans to unionize with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) on April 2023. They named their movement the "Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega," or AEGIS-CWA when combined. According to the group, the reason for their unionization was to push for better pay, improved benefits, as well as to implement measures to prevent "patterns of overwork" through better staffing.
As SEGA QA Lead and union member Mohammad Saman has stated, "Working for Sega is a passion for many of us, and it's been so exciting to see that through organizing, we can make this work a sustainable long-term career."
Of course, it hasn't been smooth sailing for the group leading up to their announcement. Although they had the support of prominent political figures such as the mayor of Irvine, California, Farrah Khan, as well as California Congresswoman Katie Porter, Sega management has interfered with their movement, at least once, to circumvent their attempts to hold the voting back in June 2023. This was met with over 4000 people signing a petition requesting Sega remain neutral toward their organizing.
Regardless of Sega management's sentiments regarding the unionization, the vote has been passed. How this will affect the quality of the content of future games, however, is a question that remains to be answered.
Sources:
AEGIS-CWA Twitter
Sega of America workers are forming a union
