SEGA made some waves recently by purchasing mobile game studio Rovio out of Finland for $775 million. It’s pretty big news for SEGA and the gaming industry as a whole. Perhaps realizing change is afoot, employees of SEGA have announced they’re unionizing.
A “supermajority” of workers said they would unionize as the Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA, or AEGIS.
The account said said the new union was full of “passionate, hard working people” who “deserve a say in our working conditions.”
“We are unionizing because we love the games that we work on, we love our coworkers, and we love working at SEGA. But unfortunately for many this job is not sustainable. Our goal is to make SEGA someplace where we feel employees can thrive for many years to come.”
In its vision statement, AEGIS said it was currently receiving “wages that are below the industry average, weak benefits, and a lack of paths to promotion.” The group explained that workers deserve to make a living wage, and that “a third of SEGA’s long-time workers” are still not given full-time status.
AEGIS wants a higher base pay for all employees and benefits like healthcare, retirement and remote work opportunities. It’s also asking for “clearly outlined opportunities for advancement.”
“Our demands,” AEGIS said, “are already in line with SEGA’s core values.” It wants SEGA to “recognize our democratic right to organize without interference by voluntarily recognizing our union.”
Why now? Perhaps employees realize that a company that can throw around $775 million should be paying its workers better. There are 144 workers forming the union, per TechCrunch. Workers at ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard both unionized last year, so it’s not like there isn’t a precedent here.
We’ll keep you posted.