Why the Wizards of the Coast Union Vote Matters to Players

What the company has said

Wizards did not recognize the union voluntarily. The union said on Oct. 14 that "Wizards informed us that it doesn't intend to voluntarily recognize the D&D or Studio X units of our union ahead of a vote." Wargamer reported that it received a copy of a staff email, and Vertical Slice reported that it viewed one, saying "Wizards is not neutral on the question of unionization." Wargamer quoted the same email as saying the company "will respect the results of the election, no matter what our employees choose."

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks spoke about the effort on stage at WBUR's Breakfast Club on Oct. 21. Here is what he said, from the video.

"Well, I think we're in support of a person's right to unionize and the person's right to have the discussion around it and a vote around it," he said. He added that "there's a fair number of people who don't want to be a part of the union."

His central concern was this: "So if 60% of the people on a team want to unionize, 100% of the people have to join the union and have to join collective bargaining." He said that would shape how the company pays and rewards people.

He also described what he sees as the teams' current deal. "The average person on a team like Magic, the average individual contributor on a team like Magic makes about $140,000 a year," he said. "They've been averaging over the last three years about a $40,000 bonus." He cited pay increases of "about 25% over the last three years, versus a national average in the games industry of around 11% and inflation of about 9%," and said, "They get about eight weeks of paid time off per year." And he said of the Wizards staff, "I love that team. I respect that team."

What the union has said

United Wizards of the Coast answered him in a Nov. 8 thread. On the $140,000 figure, the union wrote, "That doesn't match what we are hearing from our coworkers," and said "our members' wages are lower than what Chris Cocks shares, and there's no clear path toward promotions and meaningful raises." It said that talking openly about pay had shown "workers with the same title with wildly different salaries."

The union also pointed to the company's lawyers. The NLRB dockets list Fisher & Phillips as employer counsel, as it was in the earlier MTG Arena election. The union calls Fisher Phillips "a well-known union-avoidance firm." That label is the union's, and I am passing it along as theirs.

I can't tell you whose numbers are right, and I haven't seen any published payroll data. Both sides are making their case in public, and it is worth reading in full.

Why I think players should pay attention

This has happened once already at Wizards. Arena workers voted 79 to 16 for CWA representation, and the NLRB certified the union on July 1.

The games I love come from people who spend years on them. When those people say they are worried about pay, promotions, and whether their jobs will be there next year, that is part of the story of the hobby, not something separate from it. When a CEO says he respects those teams and wants to keep rewarding strong work, that is part of the story too. I want to hear both, and I'd ask fellow players to give both a fair hearing.

What happens next

According to the NLRB notices of election, mail ballots must be received at the Region 19 office by 1:00 PM on Friday, Dec. 4, and all ballots will be counted at the Region 19 office at 1:00 PM that same day. Until then, nothing has been decided.

Nothing I have seen suggests any effect on release schedules or Organized Play, and I am not going to speculate about either. This vote is about the working lives of the people behind our games, and I'll be watching the count like everyone else.