Sega of America Workers Accuse Company of Bad Faith Bargaining
Workers at Sega of America are accusing the video game company of “bad faith bargaining with workers” due to its plan to lay off dozens of temporary workers. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Sega. In April, 200 unionized workers formed the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA) under the CWA, and now Sega reportedly intends to lay off 80 of those workers.
The CWA has been in bargaining with Sega since September. On November 6, Sega presented a proposal to phase out all temporary employees by taking their work offshore to the company’s offices in Europe and Japan by February 2024. The affected employees were informed of this proposal the following afternoon. The CWA believes this is a clear case of bad faith bargaining and a violation of status quo.
Elise Willacker, a Senior QA Tester Temp, stated, “Sega will not be allowed to get away with this unlawful behavior. We call on the company to make all temporary employees permanent and return to the bargaining table in good faith. There is no other just alternative.” The organization’s complaint is now in the hands of the National Labor Relations Board, but it may take a while to resolve and may not prevent the layoffs from taking place.
