SEGA workers are forming a union
techcrunch.comA 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.
The gaming giant behind franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog and Total War, SEGA has not yet voluntarily recognized the union or responded to TechCrunch’s request for comment. If SEGA does not recognize the union, the eligible workers can conduct an election through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); workers expect that this vote would pass, since there are only about 170 eligible workers, and a supermajority has already joined the union.
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.
“There are opportunities for different departments to mingle and to get to know one another,” Geiger told TechCrunch, citing examples like all-hands “shout out” meetings, where employees are encouraged to publicly acknowledge their coworkers’ achievements. “This turned from just wanting to better the workplace that we are in to wanting to ensure that our co-workers and friends across departments receive better treatment than what they’re currently getting.”
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