Organizing Update

SEGA

On Monday, a majority of workers at SEGA, a multinational video game and entertainment company, in Irvine, Calif., won their union recognition election to join CWA. Their union, Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS), CWA Local 9510, consists of more than 200 workers in the quality assurance, localization, live service, marketing, and product development departments. They are demanding higher base pay following industry standards, with raises tied to the cost of living and inflation; improved, stable benefits; increased and clear opportunities for advancement; balanced workloads, schedules, and defined responsibilities for all positions; and adequate staffing, to end patterns of overwork. The workers are the latest to organize with CODE-CWA, an initiative to provide strategic support for tech and game workers who are collectively taking action to have a voice on the job. Read more here.

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Activision Blizzard/Microsoft

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft from closing its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. The Judge’s decision allows the merger to move forward, and gives the FTC an opportunity to transform the video game and technology labor market by providing a clear path to collective bargaining for almost 10,000 workers, thanks to a ground-breaking, legally-binding labor neutrality agreement between CWA and Microsoft. The agreement, which will apply to the Activision Blizzard workforce once Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of the company is complete, committed Microsoft to a neutral approach when employees express interest in joining a union, with a free and fair process for voluntary recognition of the union.

Read more here.