SEGA Of America workers have successfully ratified a union contract that covers approximately 150 developers, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The new contract includes annual pay increases for all union members to the tune of 4% in 2024, 3% in 2025 and 2.5% in 2026, and SEGA is now required to notify members ahead of layoffs, should they come to pass.
Members now also have “a number of other benefits,” according to Communications Workers Of America (CWA) representative Catalina Brennan-Gatica, who also called this ratification “a watershed moment for workers in the video game industry.”
It’s a huge leap forward from where SEGA was with its American work force only months ago, where it was accused of union busting by the CWA and the Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS).
Unfortunately layoffs have still occurred within SEGA of America, with 61 employees laid off as of the beginning of March. Hopefully this new contract will help prevent or at least minimize future layoffs, and further set a precedent for other developers across the U.S.
Source – [Bloomberg]