Manga publisher Seven Seas "has not expressed any enthusiasm" for its employees union, according to the union itself

It’s been more than a year since staffers at manga publisher Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they had formed a union. To the surprise of many — including, potentially, the union itself — the publisher reversed earlier attempts to bust the union and instead voluntarily recognized the union within a couple of months of its formation. At that point, the group entered the negotiation process and… things went understandably quiet.

Until now. The group announced that it has ratified its first contract with the publisher, even as Popverse was reaching out for an update. Keep reading to find out how the company has changed since the union was announced, and what happened after the union was recognized by the publisher…

The following interview was conducted via email, with the group speaking as one unified collective unit at their request.

(Note: United Workers of Seven Seas is made up of the staff of Seven Seas Entertainment, not its creators. Instead, it is a group of production artists and workers, editors, and other individuals employed as staff by Seven Seas to package the books for publication. Under U.S. labor law, only employees, not freelancers, are allowed to unionize.)

Popverse: It’s been some time since we’ve had any updates from UW7S. I know you’ve been at the bargaining table for some time; is there a way to offer a status update that doesn’t reveal private information that would upset negotiations?

United Workers of Seven Seas: We were at the bargaining table for ten months, but now have a tentative agreement! Our vote to ratify our contract passed with 96% of the union voting “yes” to ratification.

We will be releasing more details about our contract on our social platforms and website.

What would the group say has been the most obvious takeaway from the experience of forming the union and this long road to ratification and beyond? Has it been a positive experience, no matter how difficult?

It’s a lot of work. Organizing a group of employees, polling everyone’s needs to bring to bargaining, writing contracts, updating contacts lists… Unionizing has been like a second job for those of us on the committee. However, it’s rewarding work once you have that final contract in hand.

Do you have advice you’d offer staff at other publishers looking to follow in your footsteps?

Knowledge is power — do your research! Speak with other unionized workers and sit down with your union rep(s) to make sure you understand the entire process before you get to the bargaining table.

Unlike Image Comics and the CBWU, Seven Seas voluntarily recognized the union. What has the attitude towards the unionization efforts and subsequent negotiations from the publisher?

Originally, the president was insistent on