The National Labor Relations Board, the body that officially oversees the unions in the country of Joe Biden, has validated the founding of the AEGIS-CWA. With 117 votes counted, the “yes” wins with an overwhelming majority of 92 votes against 26 ballots in favor of the “no”. A few votes were invalidated in the battle. No matter: thanks to this new organization, more than 235 employees located in Irvine, California, are now protected. This process began last April.
A shield against oppression
“We are extremely happy to celebrate our electoral victory as members of AEGIS-CWA“, reacted the translator Ángel Gómez in a press release. “It was clear from the first moments of our campaign that we care deeply about our work at SEGA. Now, thanks to our union, we will be able to protect what we love about our work and strengthen our benefits, our wages and the stability of our jobs, for all workers. Together we can build an even better SEGA. We hope our victory can inspire other workers in the video game industry. Together, we can raise what is considered the minimum acceptable across the industry.“
WE WON!
We just won our union election 91-26.
Our 200+ member union is now the LARGEST multi-department union of organized workers in the ENTIRE gaming industry.
So excited to celebrate this win & head to the bargaining table w/ @SEGA to continue building this company we love! pic.twitter.com/2iy6loAruf
— AEGIS-CWA ? #UnionizeSEGA (@takesAEGIS) July 10, 2023
The AEGIS-CWA represents a historic victory for the new labor movement: it is the first section to cover several departments – marketing, localization, product development and QA – within a major company. Previously, if some unions were able to be formed (especially at Raven Software, to the chagrin of Activision-Blizzard), they only concerned a specific department. Very often QA testers, moreover, given the precariousness of the job, which very often relies on temporary work that is too little protected by American statutes. It should be noted, however, that the indie AR/VR studio Tender Claws has already unionized in several departments, on their scale, of course.
In all, the AEGIS-CWA is the fifth union to hatch in the American industry, after those of ZeniMax, Raven Software, Blizzard Albany and Tender Claws. The honor of the first syndicate, however, goes to the small studio Vodeo Games at the end of 2021, even if it has, alas, closed its doors since. Equally depressing, the Proletariat studio, absorbed by the ogre Blizzard last year, canceled the creation of their union after “a series of meetings“organized by their management which has”demoralized and disarmed the group, making a free and fair election impossible.“Another misdemeanor from the Kotick teams to pin on the board.