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Sega Of America staff have ratified a union contract, the first to do so at a major US studioThe move comes amid layoffs at the company
The move comes amid layoffs at the company
Sega Of America employees have become the first a major US video games studio to ratify a union contract. The contract covers guarantees minimum yearly pay increases for around 150 staff through 2026.
Sega Of America employeesannounced their intent to unioniselast April, working alongside Communications Workers Of America. Catalina Brennan-Gatica, a representative for the CWA, call the contract ratification “a watershed moment for workers in the video game industry.”
The last several years have seen an increased push for unions across the industry, particularly in quality assurance and other support departments, including at companies such asRaven,BioWare Edmonton,Blizzard AlbanyandZenimax. Perhaps not coincidentally, the desire for unionisation has grown alongside masslayoffsover the past 18 months.
Sega Of America announced that they would lay off 61 people in March, around 13% of their workforce. Last month,the Sega AEGIS union saidthey had worked to “double the number of saved jobs, and to offer severance to our temp workers.”
This new union contract requires Sega to offer a minimum of two weeks' severance to laid off employees, up to a maximum of eight weeks. Bloomberg say it also includes provisions for health insurance and a pledge to credit everyone who worked on a video game, another longstanding issue in the industry.
