Nintendo Becomes Latest Company to Be Accused of Labor Violations - Report

Nintendo of America is the American branch of the Kyoto, Japan based Nintendo, famous for video game mascots such as Mario, Donkey Kong and the Zelda franchise. It also manufactures the Nintendo Switch, the most popular gaming console of this generation of video game consoles.

Nintendo of America and a staffing company it has worked with are being accused of labor violations by an unnamed employee.

The news, first reported on by Axios, comes from a complaint filed at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on April 15. While the details of the case have not yet been made public, the general accusations are.

The worker is accusing Nintendo of America and the staffing company Aston Carter of “Coercive Statements” such as threats or promises of benefits, “Coercive Actions” such as surveillance, “Discharge” such as layoff (firing) or a refusal to hire and “Concerted Activities” such as retaliation, discharge or discipline.

The violation codes 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) both have to do with violating an employee’s right to unionize and collectively bargain.

The complaint comes as the video game industry, like many other industries, finds itself in the midst of a labor upheaval as more employees fight for their legally protected rights.

Activision-Blizzard is the most high profile case, with numerous lawsuits pending against the company from investors, workers and the State of California. There is also a unionization push going on in its subsidiary Raven Software. Activision-Blizzard has refused to recognize the union.

More broadly, there have been unionization pushes at Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, Apple and even Cannabis retail workers have been organizing. According to CNN, the NLRB is seeing more unionization activity than it has seen in 10 years.

It is important to note that neither Nintendo of America or Aston Carter have been found guilty of anything. The details of the accusation have yet to come out. Both companies could still be cleared. But, as Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and an expert on labor relations told Axios “If the NLRB is listing these allegations, it’s pretty serious, and their ability to act on it is very real.”

Details of the case will likely be revealed after the NLRB responds to Freedom of Information Act requests about the case.