Paizo Paizo Recognizes Union!

The ‘will they, won’t they?’ conjecture around whether or not Paizo would voluntarily recognise the new United Paizo Workers union was mercifully short. Paizo today announced that it would work with the union to improve working conditions at the company.

United Paizo Workers consists of more than 30 employees, and was formed to address allegations of pay inequity, verbal abuse, and poor working conditions.

This also means that the group of 40 or so freelancers who ceased work for the company will likely return to work now that their demand that Paizo recognize the union has been met.

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...

www.enworld.org

Paizo - Paizo Freelancers Support Union

Jason Tondro, senior developer for Pathfinder and Starfinder, has indicated that a large swathe of Paizo freelancers have stopped work in support of the recently formed union by Paizo employees. Initially the freelance group had a range of demands, but in light of the new union, they have put...

www.enworld.org

October 21, 2021 (Redmond, WA) - Paizo is pleased to announce it has voluntarily recognized the United Paizo Workers union, which is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). “We look forward to working with the union to continue and expand our efforts to make Paizo a better place to work and to ensure that Pathfinder and Starfinder products continue to exceed gamer expectations for many years to come,” said Jeff Alvarez, President of Paizo. The next steps will involve the United Paizo Workers (UPW) union electing their bargaining representatives and then meeting with Paizo management to negotiate terms for a collective bargaining agreement. We expect this process to take some time, but we are committed to the effort and hope to settle a contract in due course. Until an agreement is reached, the Paizo staff continues to focus on creating amazing Pathfinder and Starfinder products. Paizo has always been about creating awesome games, and we look forward to the changes that unionization will bring to the company. Please join us on this journey by following the UPW on Twitter and stay tuned for future updates!

 

[ECMO3]

If things actually improve at Paizo?

This is key. Has anything changed at the company? Will anything change? Unlikely in my opinion.

I am still not going to buy Paizo products and that decision has nothing to do with the Union, the company or the alleged unethical behavior. It has to do with the fact that I don't particularly like their products.

 

[MGibster]

This is key. Has anything changed at the company? Will anything change? Unlikely in my opinion.

Well, they've got a union. So, yeah. That's a change. When did pessimism become so fashionable?

 

[Morrus]

This is key. Has anything changed at the company?

Since Friday?

 

[MGibster]

Since Friday?

I wonder if all this access we have via Twitter, Facebook, EN World, etc., etc. has skewed our expectations. Personally, I was surprised at how quickly we went from the announcement that there was going to be an attempt to form a union to the announcement that Paizo now recognized the union. That was quick! But now we expect instantaneous responses and action. You don't typically change pay structure or working conditions overnight, folks. Give them another 13 hours at least.

 

[Morrus]

I wonder if all this access we have via Twitter, Facebook, EN World, etc., etc. has skewed our expectations. Personally, I was surprised at how quickly we went from the announcement that there was going to be an attempt to form a union to the announcement that Paizo now recognized the union. That was quick! But now we expect instantaneous responses and action. You don't typically change pay structure or working conditions overnight, folks. Give them another 13 hours at least.

And probably not outside office hours.

 

[ECMO3]

Since Friday?

What has happened to warrant people being excited about it.

This is my point. Paizo is the same place to work it was a week ago and many of the union members are most assuredly some of the same people causing some of the alleged and widely talked about problems.

 

[Justice and Rule]

What has happened to warrant people being excited about it.

This is my point. Paizo is the same place to work it was a week ago and many of the union members are most assuredly some of the same people causing some of the alleged and widely talked about problems.

I mean, people are excited because this step makes it feel like they can legitimately solve those problems in a way that they simply wouldn't have been able to in the past. There are reasons to be cautious, but at the same time read the room and let people be happy with what's happened so far. It's a big first step, even if it's only the first step.

 

[the_redbeard]

It's a legal requirement in the United States as well. However, Paizo recognized the union before they were legally required to do so. i.e. Before the National Labor Relations Board conducted a secret ballot election giving the workers an opportunity to vote yes or no on the union. In cases where you hear a US company doesn't recognize a union, it's because the formal vote hasn't happened yet. And in cases of larger companies, such as Walmart, they can afford to shut down an entire store if it seems likely the workers will vote yes. In the case of Amazon, the last time they had a vote at one of their locations the workers voted no.

But to put it in context, MOST US companies spend the time between discovering the union effort and the NLRB election in discrediting the union, harassing pro-union employees (or even creating pretexts to fire them), making unenforceable promises that "we've heard you, we'll do better", or pleading "we're a family, we don't need an outside partner" type garbage. They might fire a problem manager or change some awful practice, anything to maintain their absolute power over the workers.

I've been a union organizer. I've told people what their rights were, and I told them to be extra careful that the employer might fire them even tho it is illegal. And then I've seen employers fire the people that listened to me. I've bought them groceries while I tried to help them find a new job. Of course we document and bring their cases to the NLRB, but that's a months long process.

But I know what is possible when the workers are united. I'm just a union member now, and have never had a job or benefits this good.

edit: I removed the word "naughty word"

 

[darjr]

The @PaizoWorkers and @paizo have reached first tentative agreements on Grievance and Arbitration procedures. Bargaining continues to go well. #PaizoUnionized