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

 

[Bolares]

I don’t think Paizo would hire scabs or pressure people to cross a picket line.

Well, I didn't think Paizo would do some of the things their execs are being accused of so...

 

[darjr]

 

[darjr]

Also I find it hard to believe that Paizo as a business is in any real danger of folding anytime soon. I might be wrong and we’ll see.

 

[FoolishFrost]

I don’t think Paizo would hire scabs or pressure people to cross a picket line.

Well, as they themselves have said, it’s not possible for them to do so, really. Game design and writing are very skilled labor, with a large part of the workload front loaded learning the tone of what your writing for, formats they want, and the background of the setting to make things line up.

Combine that with finding people who can produce on a schedule, not ghost halfway though a project, and similar basic needs….

The time to ramp that back up for replacement, wholesale, would be lethally expensive, and prone to failure.

 

[ruemere]

That quote is in the article right here that you're replying to. It's part of the UPW press release.

Yes, I just read the release in several different places googling for related stuff and picked one of the sources.

 

[ruemere]

(in response to my post)

And this googling has uncovered Paizo's side of this? Revealed the financial status of the company? Uncovered the pay roll? Provided a reasonable look inside the business model? Provided a plan for adjusting their business model to accomplish this? No? My point is simple, we do not have the information needed to judge how reasonable the employee demands are or if the company can meet them. It would certainly be nice if they could. Preferably without shuttering the company. Time will tell. The obvious tactic of making "reasonable" demands in a vacuum is not giving those of us on the outside (perhaps including the employees) the information needed to come to a reasonable conclusion about this matter.

As an employee, I feel deeply moved by "subjected to untenable crunch conditions on a regular basis" (Paizo - Paizo Workers Unionize). This is backed by all people who signed the original petition.

WIRED, Tabletop RPG Workers Say Their Jobs Are No Fantasy

Sources say Paizo has offered $35,000 for full-time jobs based in the Seattle suburb of Redmond within the last three years, where the average monthly rent for an apartment is $1,768. (MIT calculates that the living wage for a single adult with no children in King County, Washington, is $40,705.) One person says he recently left the company in a leadership role after seven years making the equivalent of $39,000 a year on hourly wages. Other people who spoke to WIRED described making similar amounts over the past decade, and two sources say that the company’s benefits have gotten worse in that time.

“One of the jokes about Paizo is that the real benefit is first pick of all the freelance contracts,” says Crystal Frasier, who made less than $40,000 when she left in 2018 after nine years at the company.

I would like to emphasize that I am not calling for a pitchfork mob and public lynching. What I'm saying is that the case against current working conditions at Paizo Publishing is pretty solid.

Repairs are definitely possible. Paizo Publishing has still a large customer base, and a large business offer.
They just happen to need to work on their employee satisfaction levels - and not just by improving wages.

Oh, and I would like to make one thing painfully clear - overworking employees never worked well in the long term.

 

[ECMO3]

RPG writing is a highly specialized technical skill, particularly for games as both crunchy and lore-heavy as Pathfinder and Starfinder. Good luck finding good writers and editors who are familiar with the material – particularly since a large portion of the potential replacement pool of freelancers have stated their support for unionization to the point where they are essentially on strike already.

Also, a move like that would alienate a large portion of their customer base. I, for one, would never buy anything from a hypothetical nuPaizo again.

I don't believe that and I also don't belive that it will alienate many people at all.

Very few people "buy union" today, most don't think twice about even buying foreign made products and the vast majority of new and trend-setting companies are not union. For example, the chance that you wrote your post above on an American made product are low and the chance you wrote it on union-made computer are near zero. FWIW I am posting on an ASUS laptop. It is a Chinese owned firm that uses non-union employees to assemble laptops in the USA.

I don't have a problem with unions, but I also don't think businesses with union employees are as competitive in the global market today.

As for specialized skills, I don't buy that either. There are a heck of a lot of RPG freelancers already selling products to Paizo or WOTC on a per job basis or even online at places like DMs guild. Just last month the IATSE union folks were saying the same thing to hollywood - specialized skills and all - membership voted 99% to strike in an attempt to get leverage with the hollywood studios and the companies didn't budge at all. Basically they told them go ahead and strike if you want.

 

[R_Chance]

(in response to my post)

As an employee, I feel deeply moved by "subjected to untenable crunch conditions on a regular basis" (Paizo - Paizo Workers Unionize). This is backed by all people who signed the original petition.

WIRED, Tabletop RPG Workers Say Their Jobs Are No Fantasy



I would like to emphasize that I am not calling for a pitchfork mob and public lynching. What I'm saying is that the case against current working conditions at Paizo Publishing is pretty solid.

Repairs are definitely possible. Paizo Publishing has still a large customer base, and a large business offer.
They just happen to need to work on their employee satisfaction levels - and not just by improving wages.

Oh, and I would like to make one thing painfully clear - overworking employees never worked well in the long term.

I suspect almost all of us on these boards are "employees". Crunch time is a thing in a lot of industries. I am a teacher / instructor currently and my typical work week is 60 hours. I am teaching an overload and have for the last decade plus. When grades are due my week ramps up from there. It can get ugly. I am making a decent wage (although I took a pay cut to go into education) and the benefits are good. There is that. On the other hand I am still making less than a similar level of experience / education would earn outside teaching. I like the job. I took the job knowing that the pay would be less and the hours longer. I do the job. Not that better pay and fewer hours put in beyond 40 wouldn't be nice (we are salaried, no such thing as overtime although extra classes do add to the base pay). In fields where people want to do the job pay is often a bit lower.

To be clear, it would be nice if Paizo could afford more / improve conditions. If they can. We don't know. That is all I'm saying and have been saying.

We are unionized and our union has done an adequate job (not bad, not great) btw.

And overworking me has done OK for the District I work for

 

[ruemere]

I suspect almost all of us on these boards are "employees". Crunch time is a thing in a lot of industries. I am a teacher / instructor currently and my typical work week is 60 hours. I am teaching an overload and have for the last decade plus. When grades are due my week ramps up from there. It can get ugly. I am making a decent wage (although I took a pay cut to go into education) and the benefits are good. There is that. On the other hand I am still making less than a similar level of experience / education would earn outside teaching. I like the job. I took the job knowing that the pay would be less and the hours longer. I do the job. Not that better pay and fewer hours put in beyond 40 wouldn't be nice (we are salaried, no such thing as overtime although extra classes do add to the base pay). In fields where people want to do the job pay is often a bit lower.

To be clear, it would be nice if Paizo could afford more / improve conditions. If they can. We don't know. That is all I'm saying and have been saying.

We are unionized and our union has done an adequate job (not bad, not great) btw.

And overworking me has done OK for the District I work for

I'm glad things are going well for you, I'm also fine, and let's end it at that... well, maybe with this: Occupational Safety and Health standards are there for a reason.

 

[Campbell]

I think we should all want less crunch. In software and other highly skilled work (I consider game design highly skilled) crunch has pretty big negative impact on product quality. See the initial state of Cyberpunk 2077 for an example.