Sega accused of threatening unionised workers with layoffs, says report
Sonic and Persona publisher Sega has been accused of threatening some of its unionised workers with layoffs, and is now facing an unfair labour practice complaint filed by the Communications Workers of America.
In a new report from Kotaku, on 6th November Sega of America is said to have brought union members into a meeting where they were told of a proposal to «phase out» all temporary employees by February 2024.
The union, Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA), has filed a complaint with the National Labour Relations Board in response, for making affected employees attend a mandatory meeting to deliver the news rather than bargain with the union as a whole. This could be a violation of the rule which states companies must not negotiate directly with unionised employees instead of with their union.
«We’re disappointed that Sega management has not yet ceased their union busting,» AEGIS-CWA said in a statement on Twitter. «We hoped that Sega management would bargain in good faith, but instead they've shown disregard to status quo,» it continued, revealing up to 40 percent of its members will be impacted by Sega's plan to outsource jobs to Japan and Europe.
AEGIS-CWA formed in July 2023 after an overwhelming majority vote from eligible employees. The union has over 200 members, with employees from a range of departments including marketing, localisation, and quality assurance.
Elise Willacker, a senior QA tester at Sega, said the behaviour from the company was «disheartening» in a statement to Kotaku. «It unmistakably demonstrates bad faith bargaining and a refusal to recognise the valuable contributions of a significant portion of our colleagues,» they continued. «We have filed an unfair labour practice charge
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