According to Kotaku, Nintendo of America is facing fresh labor complaints from workers, with new charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board on December 17 and January 6. The charges, also filed against contracting firm Teksystems, allege violations of sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(4) of the National Labor Relations Act, which deal with interfering with worker organizing and retaliatory discharge. This comes just a few years after the company settled a previous high-profile case with former tester MacKenzie Clifton for $26,000 in back pay and damages. In that 2022 case, Clifton believed their contract was cut short for mentioning unionization to a company president. The new filings suggest ongoing tensions between the Switch 2 manufacturer and its workforce over organizing rights.
A Pattern, Not an Anomaly
Here’s the thing: this isn’t some random, one-off event. It’s starting to look like a pattern. The 2022 settlement opened the floodgates, with tons of contractors speaking out about feeling underpaid and exploited. Nintendo responded by converting some contractors to full-time roles… while also cutting others. So you get a mixed message, right? On one hand, they’re addressing some concerns. On the other, the very nature of these new charges—alleging retaliation for “concerted activities”—implies the core issue of worker intimidation hasn’t been fully resolved. It feels like the company is playing whack-a-mole with labor relations instead of doing a deep, systemic overhaul of how it treats its contingent workforce.
The Bigger Picture at Nintendo
Now, let’s zoom out. These complaints are hitting as Nintendo is deep in the preparations for its next console, presumably the Switch 2. There were reports last fall about concerns that Nintendo would outsource more customer service work overseas ahead of that launch. When you connect the dots, it paints a picture of a company potentially trying to tighten belts and control costs on the eve of a major hardware cycle. But at what cost to its internal culture and employee morale? Retaliating against organizing efforts is a surefire way to destroy trust and create a fearful environment. For a company whose brand is built on joy and creativity, that’s a pretty bad look. They settled last time to make it go away quietly, but if this keeps happening, the reputational damage will stick.
Wider Industry Echoes
This isn’t just a Nintendo story, of course. The entire games industry has been rocked by a wave of labor organizing and high-profile union-busting allegations at other giants. Workers are fed up with crunch, job instability, and what they see as unfair compensation. So every time a company like Nintendo gets hit with these charges, it’s a signal to every other QA tester, customer service rep, and contractor in the industry. It tells them the NLRB is a tool they can use, and that public pressure matters. Basically, Nintendo isn’t operating in a vacuum. Its actions—and these complaints—are being watched closely by a workforce that’s increasingly willing to fight for a better deal.
