A new labor complaint has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board against Nintendo and contracting agency Aston Carter. The second complaint this year accuses Mario publishers of interfering in “concerted activities” by workers, including possible retaliation and coercion. It comes months later Dozens of current and former employees complained about exploitative working conditions at Nintendo of America.
As first reported through axiosthe lawsuit was filed on August 7th against Nintendo and Aston Carter as joint employers. That allegations listed include “coordinated activities (retaliation, dismissal, discipline)” and “coercive rules.” Although vague, both refer to Section 7 and Section 8(a)(1) of the National Industrial Relations Act. The first part protects the right of workers to organize or self-organize in order to achieve “mutual aid and protection”. The second part makes it illegal for companies to “disrupt, restrain or coerce employees” to exercise these rights.
If you’re familiar with the allegations against Nintendo, or have your own story about working there, my inbox is always open: [email protected] (Signal and proton on request).
Nintendo and Aston Carter have been accused of labor rights violations back in April also. The public complaint included allegations of coercion, surveillance and retaliation. Four sources familiar with the incident reported my box it came straight from a contract worker who asked a question about unions at a meeting and was later fired for what appeared to be a borderline violation of his non-disclosure agreement. Nintendo said in a statement at the time that there had been no “attempts at unionization or related activity” and that the employee had been terminated for disclosure of confidential information “and for no other reason”.
However, it sparked a flood of testimonials from former Nintendo of America employees on social media several reports about problematic working conditions in the company. Dozens of current and former employees shared their stories my box that Nintendo of America was overwhelmingly staffed with contract employees who received unfair deals and were treated like second-class citizens. In addition to being paid a little over $15 an hour in some cases and having poorer health care options, they were also barred from attending many company events or even walking the hallways of the main building.
Nintendo has not responded to this my box or other outlets about these issues and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this latest allegation.
