Sega of America workers unionize in California across departments

Workers in Sega of America’s Irvine, California office today filed for a new union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The new union, called Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS), is formed of 144 workers across multiple departments within the studio. AEGIS asks Sega to voluntarily recognize their union.

According to a report from The Verge, the 144 members are part of the QA, localization, live service, marketing and product development teams and have been organizing for over a year. AEGIS is partnered with the Communications Workers of America. The union’s mission statement reads that it intends to advocate for a more sustainable workplace.

AEGIS’s mission statement reads that it wants:

• Higher base pay for all, following industry standards, with raises tied to the cost of living and inflation.
• Improved, stable benefits for all, including healthcare, retirement, remote work opportunities and more.
• Increased, clearly outlined opportunities for advancement.
• Balanced workloads and schedules and defined responsibilities for all positions.
• Adequate staffing of departments to end patterns of overwork.

AEGIS is one of many unions growing within the games industry. Last year, QA workers at Raven Software and Blizzard Albany voted to unionize, along with workers at ZeniMax Studios. So far, Microsoft — which acquired ZeniMax in 2020 — is only company to voluntarily recognize its workers’ union. AEGIS asks now that Sega follow suit.

“We are unionizing because we love the games that we work on, we love our coworkers, and we love working at Sega,” said AEGIS on Twitter. “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.”