Sega of America workers have won the election for another record-setting games industry union, the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS) union announced today.
"We just won our union election 91-26," the official union account said. "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 and head to the bargaining table [with Sega] to continue building this company we love!"
After this successful vote, the union will now need to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and if successful, representatives can then proceed with bargaining a contract. AEGIS previously outlined the improvements it's seeking: higher base pay for all, improved benefits including healthcare and remote work opportunities, balanced workloads and schedules with defined responsibilities, adequate staffing to "end patterns of overwork," and "clearly outlined opportunities for advancement."
AEGIS thanked sister unions such as ZeniMax Workers United, Activision subsidiary Raven Software's history-making Game Workers Alliance, and TCGplayer's TCGunion for "leading the way for game workers organizing in our industry."
"We can't wait to see more workers join us in unionizing their workplace – together, we can ensure every worker wins their fair share," it said.
AEGIS is backed by Communication Workers of America, the same union representing the three previously mentioned unions. Just this April, ZeniMax Workers United began bargaining for what is Xbox's first union.
The corporate response to the games industry's growing labor movement has been mixed. Xbox boss Phil Spencer previously said he would "absolutely support" Raven Software's union as Microsoft seeks to close the Xbox Activision deal, while Activision CEO Bobby Kotick just recently criticized an unspecified "very aggressive labor movement" for allegedly trying to "destabilize the company" amid its many lawsuit tribulations, which Kotick also claimed were overblown.
Many game unions have been led by workers in QA, an often undervalued but always essential department, like the group of BioWare testers who pushed for unionization last year.
