Manga publisher Seven Seas has agreed to recognize a proposed union for its employees. Both Seven Seas and United Workers of Seven Seas shared the news on social media.
Employees at Seven Seas revealed they were attempting to unionize back in May. Seven Seas initially rejected the idea, which would have required a union vote amongst its affected employees, but last week they had a change of heart.
Here’s the statement from Seven Seas:
At the end of May, Seven Seas was notified that a union had filed an election petition to represent our employees. At the time, the company decided to proceed to an election governed by the National Relations Labor Board in order to allow such an important decision to get its full democratic process. The company is responsible for protecting the rights of all employees, and was uncomfortable waiving such a fundamental right to vote.
However, this has been a challenging time for staff at every level. Above all, the well-being and safety of our employees is of utmost importance to us. 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 and even brighter future.
And here’s the statement from UWSS:
UW7S is happy to announce that Seven Seas has agreed to voluntarily recognize us as the union based on a majority card check. This decision by Seven Seas eliminates the need for an NLRB conducted election and will pave the way for a more expedited path to bargaining a first contract. At a time when many employers continue to fight the unionization of their employees, we appreciate that Seven Seas decided to respect the voices of the majority of staff and recognize us. We look forward to developing a mutually beneficial relationship and reaching a collective bargaining agreement in the near future.
Seven Seas follows in the footsteps of the staff at Image Comics, who formed a union earlier this year; their union, however, did come down to a vote by employees when Image refused to voluntarily recognize them.