CWA files unfair labor practice charge against Sony for violating labor law

CWA filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Santa Monica Studio, a Sony subsidiary based in Los Angeles, CA, alleging that Sony limited protected organizing activities on their property in violation of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

On November 21, 2024, CWA members visited Sony video game studio locations throughout California and across the country to talk to Sony employees about the reasons a growing number of workers in the industry are forming unions. When workers arrived outside Santa Monica Studio, building management kicked members off a public sidewalk facing the property and threatened to call the police.

Sony’s attempt to limit workers’ right to distribute leaflets—a form of concerted activity—continues a pattern of low-road behavior from the industry giant amid recent Sony studio layoffs and growing disparities between Sony workers and leadership executives. In response to record layoffs in the video game industry, former Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President Chris Deering suggested that laid-off video game workers should drive an Uber or go to “the beach for a year” until the industry gets better.

Despite this, over 3,000 video game workers and over 6,000 tech workers in the US have organized with CWA to fight for improvements to their workplaces, including protections against AI, limits to outsourcing, better work-life balance during crunch time, and higher wages and benefits. Workers at Sony who are interested in learning more about unions and their legal right to organize should visit code-cwa.org/organize.

Links:

Communications Workers of America file unfair labor practice charge against Sony for violating labor law (CWA, Dec. 4, 2024)

Ex-PlayStation Chief Criticized for Saying Laid Off Developers Should ‘Drive an Uber’ or ‘Go to the Beach for a Year’ (IGN, Sep. 10, 2024)

Statement from CWA Following Studio Closures and Layoffs at Sony Interactive Entertainment (CWA, Oct. 31, 2024)