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Workers at Sega of America, a division of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., have officially ratified their union contract, <\/em><\/a>. This makes it one of the first major North American video-game companies to take this step, which could bode well for future organized labor pushes in the industry.<\/p>\n The contract was ratified after workers <\/a> last year. It covers around 150 people working in various departments throughout the company, including brand marketing, games as a service, localization, sales and quality assurance. The union is called the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA) and it organizes with the <\/a>.<\/p>\n There are already some provisions in place for workers as part of the contract, including a minimum pay increase of 4 percent in 2024, 3 percent in 2025 and 2.5 percent in 2026. There are also layoff protections, codified benefits like health insurance, a severance inclusion and a commitment to credit all workers on games.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that in the midst of extensive layoffs, workers across the video game industry will see organizing as a pathway to improve working conditions for all of us,\u201d wrote Jasmin Hernandez, a member of AEGIS-CWA, in a statement provided to Engadget.<\/p>\n Sega wasn\u2019t exactly happy about the push toward labor rights and unionization. The company faced an unfair labor practice complaint after it announced plans <\/a> of the union’s bargaining unit. The company <\/a>, as promised, but the union was able to reach an agreement<\/a> to keep many workers employed.<\/p>\n Labor is having a moment in the games industry. ZeniMax Workers United joined with the CWA last year to <\/a> to 300 quality assurance workers. Over 600 Activision QA testers <\/a>, making it the <\/a> in video games. Avalanche Studios, Raven Software and several small development studios have all also unionized in the past year or so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n