‘Sonic’ Developer SEGA of America is Going Fast Toward Unionization
On Tuesday, April 25, employees at SEGA of America became the latest to attempt to organize a union. The California-based team filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), an independent government agency that oversees all unionization efforts within the United States. The new union, Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS), has partnered with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) to bargain for higher base pay, improved benefits for all (healthcare, remote work, retirement), clear opportunities for advancement within the company, adequate staffing to end departmental overwork, and balanced workloads and schedules.
The supermajority of 144 employees are spread throughout the company — marketing, localization, live service, and QA to name a few. Ash Parrish at The Verge talked with some pro-union employees, who claim that the mutual love of video games, especially those being made within SEGA, was enough to unite the various departments. Conversations about unionization encouraged interdepartmental friendships, which reportedly made the process easier. Although AEGIS will be voting for the recognition of the union, they hope that SEGA of America and SEGA of Japan will both voluntarily accept them.
The IP holder of such massive popular series as Persona, Yakuza/Like a Dragon, and (of course) Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA of America’s unionization effort raises an interesting question, as they are the first company with strong Japanese ties to attempt such an upheaval. It’s uncertain what the Japanese branch of the company will do with AEGIS, or even what this unionization of a sister studio may spell for the workers within SEGA of Japan itself. The reaction of SEGA of Japan — whether they
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