Paizo Paizo Workers Unionize

The workers at Paizo, publisher of Pathfinder and Starfinder, have formed the United Paizo Workers union (UPW). The new union speaks of its love for the company, but cites a number of underlying issues including underpay, crunch conditions, and the recent allegations regarding the work environment made by former employee Jessica Price. They also bring up hiring practices, pay inequity, verbal abuse from management, and the covering up of harassment allegations.

The UPW is asking Paizo to recognize the union.

Redmond, WA (October 14th, 2021) — Today, the workers at Paizo, Inc - publisher of the Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games - are announcing their formation of the United Paizo Workers union (UPW), with the Communication Workers of America’s CODE-CWA project. This union is the first of its kind in the tabletop roleplaying games industry.

“Unions have helped build a stronger working class in America and I’m proud to stand with United Paizo Workers. I believe that when we all work together, we’re better for it. Unionization allows workers to have a seat at the table and ensures that our voices and concerns are being heard and addressed so that all of Paizo can move forward for a positive future.” - Shay Snow, Editor

"I love my job. I love my coworkers, and I love the company I work for. I get to sell a game that I love to a community that I love. I come from a pro-union family, and I believe that unionizing Paizo will be the best way to protect the people, company, and community that I love, for now and going forward into the future." - Cosmo Eisele, Sales Manager

“My coworkers are amazing and so are the games we make together. I want Paizo to keep publishing Pathfinder and Starfinder content for years to come. This is my way of helping management improve our company culture, and by extension, the content we produce.” - Jenny Jarzabski, Starfinder Developer

“I proudly stand with my coworkers as we strive to help improve our workplace, and I believe the UPW will amplify our voices and assist with the changes we feel are necessary in making Paizo a more positive space for its employees.” - Logan Harper, Customer Service Representative

Paizo is one of the largest tabletop roleplaying publishers in the world, producing more than 10 hardcover books annually, along with numerous digital adventures and gaming accessories. Paizo also runs some of the most successful living campaigns in tabletop gaming history, with regular players in more than 36 countries. However, despite this success, Paizo’s workers are underpaid for their labor, required to live in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, and subjected to untenable crunch conditions on a regular basis.

Though efforts to organize by the Paizo workforce had already been underway for some time, the sudden departures of several long-standing employees in September and the subsequent allegations of managerial impropriety by former Paizo employees threw into stark relief the imbalance of the employer/employee relationship. These events, as well as internal conversations among Paizo workers, have uncovered a pattern of inconsistent hiring practices, pay inequity across the company, allegations of verbal abuse from executives and management, and allegations of harassment ignored or covered up by those at the top. These findings have further galvanized the need for clearer policies and stronger employee protections to ensure that Paizo staff can feel secure in their employment.

Changes have been promised, internally and externally, by the executive team. However, the only way to ensure that all workers’ voices are heard is collective action. It is in this spirit that the workers of Paizo have united to push for real changes at the company. The UPW is committed to advocating on behalf of all staffers, and invites all eligible Paizo employees to join in the push for better, more sustainable working conditions. The union requests the broad support of the tabletop community in urging Paizo management to voluntarily recognize the United Paizo Workers, and to negotiate in good faith with the union so that both may build a better workplace together.

For more information, please contact the Organizing Committee at committee@unitedpaizoworkers.org

Raychael Allor, Customer Service Representative

Brian Bauman, Software Architect

Logan Bonner, Pathfinder Lead Designer

Robert Brandenburg, Software Developer

James Case, Pathfinder Game Designer

John Compton, Starfinder Senior Developer

Katina Davis, Webstore Coordinator

David "Cosmo" Eisele, Sales Manager

Heather Fantasia, Customer Service Representative

Eleanor Ferron, Pathfinder Developer

Keith Greer, Customer Service Representative

Logan Harper, Customer Service Representative

Sasha "Mika" Hawkins, Sales and E-Commerce Assistant

Jenny Jarzabski, Starfinder Developer

Erik Keith, Software Test Engineer

Mike Kimmel, Organized Play Line Developer

Avi Kool, Senior Editor

Maryssa Lagervall, Web Content Manager

Luis Loza, Pathfinder Developer

Joe Pasini, Starfinder Lead Designer

Austin Phillips, Customer Service Representative

Lee Rucker, Project Coordinator

Sol St. John, Editor

Michael Sayre, Pathfinder Designer

Shay Snow, Editor

Alex Speidel, Organized Play Coordinator

Levi Steadman, Software Test Engineer

Gary Teter, Senior Software Developer

Josh Thornton, Systems Administrator II

Jake Tondro, Senior Developer

Andrew White, Front End Engineering Lead



In Solidarity:

Thurston Hillman, Digital Adventures Developer

 

[Justice and Rule]

The assumption around these cases always seems to be that ownership makes heaps of profit off the business and this sort of action will just mean they’ll make a little less. But the truth is these types of creative boutique businesses typically operate on the margins of profitability, and it doesn’t take much to tip them into being unviable.

Unions offer more than this, though. Organizing allows you to fight for better conditions (one of the examples being the ability to work from home), as well as creating checks on the ability of management to simply fire people. Like, for example, the firing that sparked this whole thing.

The notion that there must be a way for tabletop RPGs to publish products at prices that consumers will pay while providing staff a secure middle-class livelihood betrays naïveté about how small businesses operates in the real world.

I mean, I think you're painting with way too broad a brush and miss that while some small businesses might have trouble, there are plenty that use that sort of attitude to offer terrible wages to their workers using that sort of justification. We've been staving off an economic reckoning on things like payscale for a long time, and now that COVID over we are seeing a lot of businesses finally deal with it.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

I think the closest thing may be GAMA - the Game Manufacturer's Association. And it most certainly isn't a labor union.



I don't know if Paizo has the oomph to squelch much of anything. What are they going to do, hire scab game developers and other staff? Like that would play out well for sales of products they'd create?

There are sadly consultancy companies that specialize in advising how to kill unions in infancy, through various legal and operational means. It's not quite as simple as a union going on strike and having workers "cross the picket line" anymore...

 

[Morrus]

There are sadly consultancy companies that specialize in advising how to kill unions in infancy, through various legal and operational means. It's not quite as simple as a union going on strike and having workers "cross the picket line" anymore...

Social media makes that a lot harder when you have to do it in the public eye.

 

[Dausuul]

The assumption around these cases always seems to be that ownership makes heaps of profit off the business and this sort of action will just mean they’ll make a little less. But the truth is these types of creative boutique businesses typically operate on the margins of profitability, and it doesn’t take much to tip them into being unviable.

"The assumption?" Who is assuming this?

Folks on the internet, maybe--there's always somebody on the internet who will assume anything you care to name. But the demands of the new union say nothing about higher salaries (though they do want salary transparency, which is entirely reasonable). They're not dumb. They know the margins of the industry they work in.

 

[Abstruse]

It looks like about 40 freelancers that regularly work for Paizo already issued a work stoppage with a list of demands. Since the announcement of the union, the entire list of demands has been reduced to one: Recognize the union. This is according to a Twitter thread from Jason Tondro.

 

[darjr]

Ope well there goes that path. Good on them!

Also I didn’t realize most of the creative work was by freelancers while in house employees did mostly production.

 

[Umbran]

Social media makes that a lot harder when you have to do it in the public eye.

Yeah. In one day, the union effort already has a twitter account with thousands of followers.

 

[MGibster]

Social media makes that a lot harder when you have to do it in the public eye.

Especially with RPGs where companies/creators have really close relationships with their customers.

 

[darjr]

Especially with RPGs where companies/creators have really close relationships with their customers.

Also if they try to hire scrubs to go around the union the whole industry will know who they are and the quality of the product will probably significantly suffer.

 

[Ranger REG]

Not to be anal, but we already have a UPW: United Public Workers. My late dad was a member (he was a custodian at a high school).