A new addition to the ongoing rise in unionization discussions in the gaming industry sees a Nintendo employee filing a complaint against the company for blocking organization efforts. Widespread unionization has been an important topic for many years now in the industry, especially as reports of underpaid, abused, discriminated against, and unappreciated employees continue to surface.
Most recently, Activision Blizzard has been on the defending end of several lawsuits that allege the longtime developer and publisher has a toxic work culture. In the wake of these suits, Activision Blizzard employees staged walkouts and added to the calls for unions. Many months later, in December 2021, the company encouraged employees not to unionize, stating that staying independent from a union “is the better path” to achieving fair and inclusive working conditions. However, in the same email, Activision Blizzard management supported their employees’ rights to unionize.
If these new allegations are to be believed, then Nintendo of America may be even less supportive of the idea. According to Axios, an unknown worker for Nintendo has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board of the United States, stating that Nintendo and Aston Carter, one of its hiring firms, participated in the coercion of employees to keep them from joining unions. While the public docket doesn’t mention specific actions, the information available involves allegations of the companies making threats toward, bribing, and/or terminating employees to distance themselves from unions. Axios also notes that Aston Carter handles many job listings for “customer service and administrative contractors for Nintendo.”
Such positions have been other focuses of recent pushes for unionization, especially due to being underpaying yet highly demanding jobs. This was another area of scrutiny for Activision Blizzard following its initial lawsuits in 2021. Activision QA testers in particular were noted as being hired almost exclusively as contractors who did not receive benefits, felt underappreciated, and often exceeded full-time hours. The company responded in the months to come by giving more than 1,000 QA testers full-time positions and raises.
Nintendo is now closer to being the next company under the public microscope than it probably wants to be. Along with Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is one of the largest video game companies on the planet, and if the incoming investigations reveal any concrete evidence for the allegations, Nintendo will have more on its plate than porting Game Boy Advance games to Nintendo Switch. The video game industry is seeing more and more companies’ toxic work cultures revealed, but actual unionization appears to be progressing a bit slower than allegations are made. However, as the industry grows, so will the need for unionization. It will be interesting to see how unionization develops in the coming years, especially at larger companies like Nintendo.
Source: Axios