Tag Archives: united workers of seven seas

United Workers of Seven Seas votes to ratify its first contract

Posted on by Leave a comment

It’s another win for labor as United Workers of Seven Seas (UW72) has voted and ratified its first contract. The union represents the workers of Seven Seas Entertainment. The publisher voluntarily recognized the staff union in June 2022 and the employee’s first intention to union was made in May 2022. Seven Seas Entertainment is the number one independent publisher of manga, danmei, and light novels in the US.

Seven Seas has grown in the past 4 years going from 10 employees in 2018 to 40 in 2022 and with that growth came issues including working conditions.

The ratification was announced on August 29. Bargaining can take a while, so a year is not abnormally long.

UW7S is represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) who have worked with others in the entertainment and publishing industry.

Seven Seas Voluntarily Recognizes its Staff’s Union

Posted on by
United Workers of Seven Seas

Seven Seas Entertainment has recognized the United Workers of Seven Seas (UW72), the union that will represent the publisher’s workers. That move means no election is necessary and negotiations can begin to come up with a contract.

After it initially refused to waive the election, the publisher changed it mind and on June 25th tweeted:

In order to protect everyone involved, and to work together in good faith for the sake of our staff, creators, partners and fans, Seven Seas has now decided to waive the right to an election in favor of voluntary recognition of the union.

We look forward to working together with the newly unionized UW7S and the rest of our global staff as we sail towards an even brighter future.

The union’s response was one of gratitude:

In order to protect everyone involved, and to work together in good faith for the sake of our staff, creators, partners and fans, Seven Seas has now decided to waive the right to an election in favor of voluntary recognition of the union.

We look forward to working together with the newly unionized UW7S and the rest of our global staff as we sail towards an even brighter future.

The decision by Seven Seas was just saving a step and inevitable as a majority of the workers had signed cards saying they wanted to be represented by the union. They initially indicated they would not voluntarily recognize the union.

The union has since expanded its list of goals since the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court:

In the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, we demand that Seven Seas set up a reproductive health travel fund accessible to all employees and US-based freelancers to states where reproductive healthcare remains available.

UW7S first announced its intention to unionize in May.

This is in contrast to Image which has fought the formation of its staff’s union. After a successful vote, the union is now negotiating its contract with Image.

Seven Seas Will Not Voluntarily Recognize its Union. Puts it to a vote.

Posted on by

Last week news broke that the staff of Seven Seas Entertainment were making moves to unionize. Dubbed United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S), 32 of the 41 eligible members have signed union cards. Seven Seas had the option of voluntarily recognizing the union or forcing a vote. They manga publisher has decided on the latter and have hired the anti-union/union busting firm Ogletree Deakins to guide them.

In a statement, Seven Seas said:

We respect the rights of our employees to choose or not choose union representation. While we have been requested by a number of employees to voluntarily recognize the CWA as their legal representative—without an NLRB conducted election—we have decided to respect the right of all eligible employees to vote on this issue. Since unionization would affect more members of staff than those who have already come forward, an election will ensure that everyone has the opportunity to learn about their rights and the details of this process before they cast their vote through a governed process.

We have notified the NLRB that we are prepared to move forward with an election among an appropriate unit of employees, and we will, of course, abide by the outcome of the election.

United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S)

Seven Seas has said they have notified the National Labor Relations Board of the upcoming election, the next step for the formation of the union. More interesting Seven Seas also stated they believe more employees than those who requested voluntary recognition will be affected but didn’t go into details about that.

With 32 of 41 eligible individuals having signed union cards, the likelihood of the votes needed to form the union is high and Seven Seas is pushing off the inevitable. All that’s needed is a simple majority to be successful.

The union’s goals are:

  • Healthcare, paid leave, & pension benefits
  • Paid time off, vacation, & holiday breaks.
  • Increased wages & transparent increase structure
  • Reasonable workloads, no more crunch
  • Secure employment status for all
  • Protections & benefits for freelancers
  • Clearly defined job roles & organization chart
  • Training materials & onboarding
  • A robust scheduling & admin department
  • Management training for all managers & supervisors
  • An end to exclusivity & anti-freelance contracts
  • Anti-harassment/discrimination policies & process for submitting grievances
  • Bonuses & vendor gifts
  • Reimbursement for costs
  • Inter-department communication
  • Increase staff for overburdened departments

Many of the goals are similar to the Image staff and what’s interesting is a theme of lack of organization of procedure seems to be reoccurring.

In January of this year, Image Comics staff voted to unionize and have since filed a complaint over retaliation. In comparison, staff at Paizo Publishing, a game publisher, unionized in late 2021 and was immediately recognized by Paizo.

Seven Seas Entertainment Staff Move to Unionize

Posted on by
United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S).

One of the bigger stories of this year is the unionization of Image Comics staffers in January. It now looks like another staff for Seven Seas Entertainment will be following them. The staffers have formed United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S). With the Communications Workers of America (CWA), they are seeking recognition. It would be the first U.S. manga publisher to unionize. The CWA is the same union the Image staff, Comic Book Workers United, are a part of.

The UW7S website states,

The company has grown exponentially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with rapid growth comes growing pains, and we, the workers of Seven Seas, have been shouldering much of that pain. We find ourselves overworked, underpaid, and we do not currently receive the benefits otherwise typical of the publishing industry.

With reported over 40 staff at the present, 30 have signed the statement on the UW7S website.

United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S)

The union’s goals are:

  • Healthcare, paid leave, & pension benefits
  • Paid time off, vacation, & holiday breaks.
  • Increased wages & transparent increase structure
  • Reasonable workloads, no more crunch
  • Secure employment status for all
  • Protections & benefits for freelancers
  • Clearly defined job roles & organization chart
  • Training materials & onboarding
  • A robust scheduling & admin department
  • Management training for all managers & supervisors
  • An end to exclusivity & anti-freelance contracts
  • Anti-harassment/discrimination policies & process for submitting grievances
  • Bonuses & vendor gifts
  • Reimbursement for costs
  • Inter-department communication
  • Increase staff for overburdened departments

Many of the goals are similar to the Image staff and what’s interesting is a theme of lack of organization of procedure seems to be reoccurring.

Next steps would be the Seven Seas management voluntarily recognizing the union or requiring a vote which would be overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

In 2021, staffers at the game publisher Paizo Publishing unionized under the CWA banner.