I go into the thread because the economic reasons are of interest. I've been on both sides of the union issue over the years, both building and breaking. This is a thread about union issues.
There's a very good reason why union membership has been on a steep decline in the USA for the last forty years: because union control over the labor pool is weak in the economic conditions that have prevailed.
Paizo can simply relocate its offices to another state, recruit non-union staff to replace those weren't able or willing to make the move, and drive on. They're not marketing fresh fruit; their products have an infinite shelf life, and their committed gamers will forget about the issue in a couple weeks, if they notice at all. Would-be RPG writers will continue to flock to their doors for the exceedingly rare opportunity to write for a major game system. So they can absorb a temporary lull to their product line.
Or the investors can simply take their money and close the doors. They can sell existing E-books with a few part-time employees, re-invest the capital on Wall Street, and get on with their lives. You see, Piazo is only a big company if considered within the RPG industry; in reality it is a small company with a niche luxury product line and a sub-moderate bottom line.
What you're projecting is the same old union thinking that has destroyed the union structure in the USA, as the recent failures to launch in the Amazon warehousing system prove. And there are some real toxic environments there.
Oh, you've broken unions? What exactly do you mean by that?
This is a thread about union issues. Seems like as part of that, since you care about unions and their work, that you would care as to
why they have been formed?
I'm pretty sure unions have been in a steep decline in the USA due to the political system in the USA being incredibly hostile to them, along with major components of culture, that have resulted in situations where workers are pretty heavily abused and companies are let ran amock. This hasn't really happened in other countries, even those along similiar economic lines, so it doesn't seem like union control is weak in 'economic conditions'.
Also, are you seriously suggesting Paizo can just
move? They're, as you said, a small company - not a public one with investors - ran by their owners. Those owners, likely, would have to move alongside or change their own lives to move. That's already quite inhert.
Again, where are they going to find these non-union staff who are willing to work for an abusive place, that are delibertly running away from a union
trying to actually fix the place for the workers, exactly? Ones who can work at the same level, ones who can keep their system working? How are they going to get their contractors to accept this, who make up the bulk of writing? Those people are already very willing to move on from companies - and they talk to each other.
I seriously don't get your point about investors. Paizo is a small private company akin to Valve; they're not like public investors who care mostly about returns.
I'm not projecting 'old union thinking' that didn't do naughty word to destroy the union structure in the USA.
My thinking is based on, perhaps, "maybe companies should stop being ***holes, actually give good conditions to their workers, and be democracies - which will increase returns and make the place a lot more productive. And maybe join the 21st century, where workers talk and communicate with each other and point out the shite that happens across the place."
Companies need to learn they are not our masters. And if they want to learn the hard way - great.