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This is reasonable; if we take Aaron's statement that the Paizo headcount is under 80 at face value, then there aren't yet enough signatories to constitute 50% +1 of the workplace.
There are a lot of managers at Paizo. And, as has been mentioned elsewhere, not everybody was comfortable with their name on the internet.
This is reasonable; if we take Aaron's statement that the Paizo headcount is under 80 at face value, then there aren't yet enough signatories to constitute 50% +1 of the workplace.There are a lot of managers at Paizo. And, as has been mentioned elsewhere, not everybody was comfortable with their name on the internet.
Fair enough. :-)
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Solidarity.
Forever and always, friends.
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Solidarity and Support with the Paizo Workers Union!
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Also, I'd like to say, as long as I'm posting to the forums today.
Way to freaking go all! You did the hard thing and have at least partially pulled it off! It's a great day for Paizo. Finally, employees will have some say and real way to air grievances and work with management to solve the hard problems.
I've bought a shirt and a mug and hope for the best for the Golems.
Bread for all, and roses too!
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Fair enough. :-)
This is reasonable; if we take Aaron's statement that the Paizo headcount is under 80 at face value, then there aren't yet enough signatories to constitute 50% +1 of the workplace.There are a lot of managers at Paizo. And, as has been mentioned elsewhere, not everybody was comfortable with their name on the internet.
Down thread Brian Bauman breaks down the numbers. Looks like they do have more than 50% of the eligible staff on board already.
As best we understand, 50 of Paizo's employees are union eligible. Of those, 35 (70%) have signed union cards, and 30 (60%) have publicly signed on in support. There is not perfect overlap between those groups, and there are some supporters who didn't sign either.
https://twitter.com/BrianMBauman/status/1448739717114064901
Go to Clickified.
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I'm just chiming in to note to anyone who is concerned, the Twitter thread if you read through it in its entirety does confirm that a "strong majority" of eligible employees have already committed to the effort and the Paizo Workers Union has already been formed.
So whatever the number posted is, it is more than enough and if they are asking us to help push for official recognition from management, then we should help them obtain that.
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I completely support this. Recent events and revelations have clearly shown that the employees at this company are in need of self-advocacy, and a union seems like the best way to get that done. Hopefully Paizo's leadership will be wise enough to recognize that this would make their company stronger and better.
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E-mail sent, button and t-shirt bought.
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Here is them asking people to email management asking them to recognize the union.Calls to recognize are a bit premature. To my knowledge they have not voted whether to form one or not. This is simply a call to action, call to arms alerting management this is the path employees are exploring. Between now and the actual vote to unionize is the critical time.
If the vote is yes, then we will see how the sausage is made.
If that is the case, then why not say when the vote to unionize happened and let us know us know that it passed by "an overwhelming amount"*?
** spoiler omitted **
I don’t know that we need to be kept in the loop of each and every administrative step. In fact, I suspect that would be unhelpful - gamers being gamers they’d face a flurry of “you should have….” replies.
They’re smart people advocating for themselves in the best way. Let’s listen to what they ask for and lend what support we can.
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Fair enough. :-)
This is reasonable; if we take Aaron's statement that the Paizo headcount is under 80 at face value, then there aren't yet enough signatories to constitute 50% +1 of the workplace.There are a lot of managers at Paizo. And, as has been mentioned elsewhere, not everybody was comfortable with their name on the internet.
Down thread Brian Bauman breaks down the numbers. Looks like they do have more than 50% of the eligible staff on board already.
As best we understand, 50 of Paizo's employees are union eligible. Of those, 35 (70%) have signed union cards, and 30 (60%) have publicly signed on in support. There is not perfect overlap between those groups, and there are some supporters who didn't sign either.https://twitter.com/BrianMBauman/status/1448739717114064901
Go to Clickified.
They've signed cards, now they need to vote "YES" and form the union.
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Here is them asking people to email management asking them to recognize the union.Calls to recognize are a bit premature. To my knowledge they have not voted whether to form one or not. This is simply a call to action, call to arms alerting management this is the path employees are exploring. Between now and the actual vote to unionize is the critical time.
If the vote is yes, then we will see how the sausage is made.
If that is the case, then why not say when the vote to unionize happened and let us know us know that it passed by "an overwhelming amount"*?
** spoiler omitted **
I don’t know that we need to be kept in the loop of each and every administrative step. In fact, I suspect that would be unhelpful - gamers being gamers they’d face a flurry of “you should have….” replies.
They’re smart people advocating for themselves in the best way. Let’s listen to what they ask for and lend what support we can.
I am not saying that either. What I am asking for clarification about, is whether the eligible employees at Paizo voted "Yes" to form the union. Based upon the linked twitter thread from Mr. Bauman, the requisite number of employees signed support cards. The next step is to hold a vote and officially become a union. If all there needed to form a union was enough employees to sign a card, then Amazon would have a union facility in Alabama.
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I support this union and hope that Paizo management will voluntarily recognize it swiftly.
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If the company voluntarily recognizes the union there is no need for a vote. The union becomes a thing. The vote happens if the company forces one.
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As a customer who has been with Paizo since long before Pathfinder was a thing, I fully support this union and I ask Paizo management to fully recognize it. Only good things can come from this.
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If the company voluntarily recognizes the union there is no need for a vote. The union becomes a thing. The vote happens if the company forces one.
While I hope they hear us and do the right thing. I will not be surprised if they force a vote to see who is on which side officially. It just usually happens this way.
Also, good to see your avatar man.
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Bummed I went and already just bought G&G and Grand Bazaar this morning right before hearing about this this afternoon.
Future purchases will be little to none until union demands are met.
After that, I'll happily take on multiple subscriptions which I have had none before.
Oh, it's also super awesome to see so many people in agreement and in support of the union. Even after all the petty bickering we go through about the game, it's nice that we can come together on something so much more important.
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Much like a poster mentioned in a different thread, I've lately tepid on unions (despite being in one). My workplace is unsafe due to health concerns, the management team has been tone-deaf.
It's felt like the workplace union lost sight of the needs of the worker collective over the needs of a business to remain in business.
That is, until recently, when Management suddenly realized in a sheer panic that if they keep harassing/treating workers like crap that the skilled base they'd been relying upon to keep things running was going to simply walk out... and not care about what the Company was going to do about it.
At no other time could I go to Management and say "Look, I have over two weeks of vacation banked going into the busiest months of the year, and we're not allowed to roll this over by contract. Do I need to get an investigation into this, or can we work it out?"
...and Management getting back to me with workable solution within hours on a busy day.
At no other time could I go to Management and say "Look, you're asking me to perform the tasks of three full-time employees, and then wondering why only a third of the work is getting done."
These discussions would never have happened (even in the current labor market) if I didn't have a union to back me up.
At no point was I insubordinate, disrespectful, nor coarse. My boss is human and gets it.
However, being Management, he's not been able to address concerns because the greater Corporate felt it wasn't important to do so.
Again, one person getting let go isn't a huge deal. When three people out of a store staff of seven get let go, that's a problem.
I am guardedly and cautiously optimistic for UPW, and hope they do well in both getting recognition AND in negotiating a reasonable living contract that helps the workers, the company, and the execs in that order.
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If the company voluntarily recognizes the union there is no need for a vote. The union becomes a thing. The vote happens if the company forces one.While I hope they hear us and do the right thing. I will not be surprised if they force a vote to see who is on which side officially. It just usually happens this way.
Also, good to see your avatar man.
Oh, I agree. While I’d love for the leadership to put actions to their words about wanting to work with staff for a better work environment my experience is that it’s just words, and this will end up going to vote. I’d like to be wrong on that. Do the right thing, Paizo.
And thank you! I wish it didn’t have to go the way it did. The staff at Paizo is wonderful. I’ve met so many good people, and not just on the staff but in the community as well. I miss it all. I believed and still do that I did what was right, but damn if it isn’t hard to let go.
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Bummed I went and already just bought G&G and Grand Bazaar this morning right before hearing about this this afternoon.
Future purchases will be little to none until union demands are met.
After that, I'll happily take on multiple subscriptions which I have had none before.
Oh, it's also super awesome to see so many people in agreement and in support of the union. Even after all the petty bickering we go through about the game, it's nice that we can come together on something so much more important.
Don't need to feel too bummed, given folks in the union are still solidly on board with folks buying the books.
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Soooooooo looking forward to restarting my subscriptions when management recognizes the union.
This is inarguably the strongest step the company could take to rebuild trust with their customers. This is an easy pitch right over the plate. Please don't just watch it go by.
(I think there was a strike pun in there somewhere but it was too subtle to track it down.)
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If the company voluntarily recognizes the union there is no need for a vote. The union becomes a thing. The vote happens if the company forces one.While I hope they hear us and do the right thing. I will not be surprised if they force a vote to see who is on which side officially. It just usually happens this way.
Also, good to see your avatar man.
Oh, I agree. While I’d love for the leadership to put actions to their words about wanting to work with staff for a better work environment my experience is that it’s just words, and this will end up going to vote. I’d like to be wrong on that. Do the right thing, Paizo.
And thank you! I wish it didn’t have to go the way it did. The staff at Paizo is wonderful. I’ve met so many good people, and not just on the staff but in the community as well. I miss it all. I believed and still do that I did what was right, but damn if it isn’t hard to let go.
You’re inspiring, Diego.
It’s easy to type away indignantly from halfway round the world. You put your livelihood on the line for your principles and I’ll always admire you for that. <3
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Oh, I agree. While I’d love for the leadership to put actions to their words about wanting to work with staff for a better work environment my experience is that it’s just words, and this will end up going to vote. I’d like to be wrong on that. Do the right thing, Paizo.
And thank you! I wish it didn’t have to go the way it did. The staff at Paizo is wonderful. I’ve met so many good people, and not just on the staff but in the community as well. I miss it all. I believed and still do that I did what was right, but damn if it isn’t hard to let go.
Big hugs <3
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The success rate for unionization among publications is pretty low at the moment
That's awful specific, I'm assuming you've got numbers on this?
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It would be fairly foolish for Paizo to recognize the union unless/until there has been vote by the employee base indicating that is what the majority want. I'm not suggesting that hasn't already happened, but the public info is a bit lacking in that department.
Paizo also has a problem with employee titles. Union rules/laws do not include management, but that term has a specific meaning to the DoL in that in means direct reports. People that do not have direct reports probably should not have management titles as it creates confusion. There are some current employees who have a mgmt title without direct reports. That practice has been used more than once by the executive team as a compensation tool even though it is largely an empty gesture given how it has been used.
This could wind up being very problematic if the compensation demanded by the union is beyond the ability of Paizo to provide or if it requires significant increases in cover prices. Sure there is a small community of hard-core Paizo fans that are willing to pay more for their product, but in general the gaming community has shown itself to be very cheap, often going out of their way to avoid FLGS or publishers and buying from eBay, Amazon, or Walmart-type retailers to save a couple bucks. Wanting more pay is nice and might even be "fair" but that does not mean it is sustainable.
I just hope this process works out for the employee group and doesn't blow up in their face.
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It would be fairly foolish for Paizo to recognize the union unless/until there has been vote by the employee base indicating that is what the majority want. I'm not suggesting that hasn't already happened, but the public info is a bit lacking in that department.
Paizo also has a problem with employee titles. Union rules/laws do not include management, but that term has a specific meaning to the DoL in that in means direct reports. People that do not have direct reports probably should not have management titles as it creates confusion. There are some current employees who have a mgmt title without direct reports. That practice has been used more than once by the executive team as a compensation tool even though it is largely an empty gesture given how it has been used.
This could wind up being very problematic if the compensation demanded by the union is beyond the ability of Paizo to provide or if it requires significant increases in cover prices. Sure there is a small community of hard-core Paizo fans that are willing to pay more for their product, but in general the gaming community has shown itself to be very cheap, often going out of their way to avoid FLGS or publishers and buying from eBay, Amazon, or Walmart-type retailers to save a couple bucks. Wanting more pay is nice and might even be "fair" but that does not mean it is sustainable.
I just hope this process works out for the employee group and doesn't blow up in their face.
From experience, good faith negotiation involves the company being upfront with the union about its finances, and the union working within that context. Public Library Union members here still tell me stories about how everyone pulled together when the city slashed our budget during the 08 recession. Its in everyone's interests for the union to negotiate with Paizo's ongoing solvency in mind.
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I just hope this process works out for the employee group and doesn't blow up in their face.
If the attempt fails and people get laid off for trying, I stop buying pathfinder.
Given they’d lose the entire non management CS and Design teams, no reason to stick around anyways.
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I wholeheartedly support the employees' efforts to unionize, and I stand behind the awesome people at Paizo whom I've worked with 100%. I hope that the execs swiftly recognize the union to make the process as smooth as possible and that the staff can get a working environment that's safe, supportive, equitable...and as conducive as possible to making great games!
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1000% support for the Paizo workers union.
I very much hope that Paizo execs choose to do the right thing and recognize the union, as whether or not I resume purchasing Paizo products is directly contingent on that happening.
Additionally, I hope this is the first step in a great industry shift, and that the TTRPG industry begins to see much more unionization. It's needed for a long, long time.
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I also support the Paizo Workers Union.
Paizo's management recognizing the Union voluntarily would certainly work well in the direction of reassuring me that the company is indeed moving in a positive direction. Indeed, one that makes purchasing its products something I will likely be willing to continue doing.
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good faith negotiation involves the company being upfront with the union about its finances, and the union working within that context...Its in everyone's interests for the union to negotiate with Paizo's ongoing solvency in mind.
It is definitely in Paizo's interest to negotiate in good faith and they should have been doing that anyway. Its something else to recognize a union within having gone through he process of the vote. I'm not opposing the process or their efforts, just saying that Paizo is unlikely to and shouldn't do anything without the due process.
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I don't use the Tweettwit, but I sent off my email.
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You definitely have all my support in this venture! Best wishes!
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Its an opportunity for exec to reset the relationship. If they fight it it sends one message. If they voluntarily recognise the union thats a very different message.
Theyve spoken before about being "unable to comment" on various issues.
I hope they seize this opportunity to publicly demonstrate their willingness to engage with the people who make paizo what it is.
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Coming back to post in support of the union!
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A Bad Choice right now on the part of the executives would be to try and game/discredit the nascent organization.
Not only are gamers savvy to such manipulation, but potentially losing a significant portion of the staff in the fallout would not help with doing things like meeting deadlines.
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As I come from a country where choosing to belong to an union is a constitutional right, the above conversation feels rather strange to me, especially the notion that the union needs to be recognized by the company. But of course, the US is a different place in that regard... Anyway, I fully support the idea. Go Paizo workers!
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Recognize the union! I can't wait to point my shelf of books and say yeah, they're union-made.
To be fair, the books are still printed in China, at non union print facility's so until they are printed at a union shop, they still wont be "union made".
However, with all the recent shipping and port fiascos, tariffs, and technology advancing, producing and printing books in the US at a Union Print facility might be more and more feasible as time goes on.
Regardless, I support the United Paizo Workers and hope that Paizo management make the right decision and recognize the union.