Archinect - News

Documentary exposes harsh labor conditions and deaths at NEOM’s The Line

2024-10-30T11:13:00-04:00

Documentary filmmakers have discovered abusive working conditions for laborers of NEOM’s The Line megacity development in Saudi Arabia. Per new reporting on the website Middle East Eye: "Labourers are forced to work grueling hours far beyond legal limits to construct the flagship project of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s Neom megacity, according to a new ITV documentary."

That film, Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia, is set to air this Sunday for UK audiences. Labor conditions in the Gulf region are considered to have faltered at improving despite several recent regulatory changes in the view of many Western human rights watch groups.

(Another shock claim that 21,000 workers from three countries — India, Bangladesh, and Nepal — have died since the Saudi Vision 2030 plan was enacted in 2016 is reported in the documentary.)

Bernheimer Architecture union member notes the need for industry-wide change

2024-08-12T18:17:00-04:00

While the numbers are relatively small, these victories represent a massive shift in how designers see themselves: We went from being a privileged set of artisans to workers seeking solidarity with other workers in all industries. Learning from the workers and organizers who have put in the hard work before us, designers need to continue to take advantage of the current climate and organize more workplaces.

Chris Beck is an architect and member of the newly formed BA Union at New York-based Bernheimer Architecture, which recently ratified a collective bargaining agreement as the industry’s first union at a private-sector U.S. architecture firm.

Writing for The Progressive Magazine, he says their mission would be considered a failure if not moved successfully from their office and into others across the industry. As other attempts have failed controversially, Beck claims architects’ influence within the building industry has eroded and that "technology is completely dominant, strangling out the artistic skills fostered in the studio environment." Those criticisms echo many brought up in our coverage of Architectural Workers United and other labor groups.

The terms of the BA Union’s ratified contract have yet to be publicized, though they will undoubtedly serve as a primer for the ten or more union efforts thought to be underway currently as architectural workers take note. Less than 1...

Bernheimer Architecture union ratifies collective bargaining agreement, the industry's first

2024-07-26T14:01:00-04:00

The historic effort by staff at Bernheimer Architecture to form the industry’s first union at a private-sector U.S. architecture firm is now complete after their ratification of a collective bargaining agreement in the firm's New York office this week. The vote on Thursday was unanimous. Founder and 2023 AIA NY Medal of Honor recipient Andy Bernheimer is said to have worked openly with organizers to meet a mutual understanding on the contract, whose finalized terms are still forthcoming.

The process began in the summer of 2022 following the failed effort of workers at SHoP to form their own union, an episode that vaulted the conditions of architectural labor into the broader national media spotlight. The BA Union, as it is so-named, is part of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), which has over 646,000 active members in the United States and Canada.

Groups such as Architectural Workers United are hailing its formal establishment as a major vic...

UK architecture workers can now join Unite, one of the UK's largest trade unions

2023-11-27T11:25:00-05:00

The UK’s Section of Architectural Workers (SAW) has announced its affiliation with Unite, one of the UK’s most influential trade union groups. The move will see SAW operate under the same union group as the UK’s wider construction sector.

When it was established in 2019, SAW was affiliated with the United Voices of the World (UVW) union, hence its original name, UVW-SAW. Recently, SAW was one of several groups that publicly supported Muyiwa Oki’s successful campaign for RIBA president.

Related on Archinect: Sage and Coombe Architects employees announce union

Following the latest announcement, SAW is now a national branch of Unite, the second-largest UK trade union by numbers with over 1.4 million members. The union also has strong links with the UK’s Labour Party, which is widely expected to enter government following the UK’s upcoming 2024 General Election.

Unlike in the US, architecture workers in the UK do not need to form an internal union group within their firm, and instead joi...

Ranking UK firms by pay: The Pay 100's report on salaries and unpaid overtime

2023-11-02T12:10:00-04:00

The UK-based salary transparency advocates The Pay 100 have released their latest set of survey data on average salaries across UK firms. Expanding upon last year’s inaugural snapshot of results, the 2023 addition also includes data on unpaid overtime.

As reported by the Architect’s Journal, almost 1000 submissions have been made to the database. Like the 2022 edition, the latest tables are organized into three common job titles in the UK industry: Part I Architectural Assistant (less than three years in the role), Part II Architectural Assistant (less than three years in the role), and Architect / Architectural Designer (less than five years in the role).

The Archinect Salary Poll features thousands of crowdsourced salary data from across the architecture community

For Part I Assistants, the highest average annual surveys were to be found at Foster + Partners (£31,000), Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (£30,000), Burwell Architects (£30,000), and Zaha Hadid Architects (£29,000). For Par...

New York State’s salary transparency law comes into effect

2023-09-18T11:48:00-04:00

New York State’s pay transparency law has come into effect, requiring employers to disclose proposed pay rates. As of Sunday, September 17th, employers with at least four workers must disclose the minimum and maximum annual salary or hourly range of compensation in any advertisement for job, promotion, and transfer opportunities.

The law covers advertised opportunities “physically performed, at least in part, in the State of New York,” including “any opportunities that are performed outside the state, including remote or telecommuting opportunities, that report to a supervisor, office or other work site in New York State.”

“If an employee’s physical presence in New York State is only for occasional work-related purposes, such as a meeting, a conference, or communicating with employees based in New York State, that would not be enough activity to be considered a job performed in New York State,” New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) adds.

Related on Archinect: The 15 highest-pa...

Sage and Coombe Architects employees announce union

2023-09-15T14:04:00-04:00

Employees of Sage and Coombe Architects have declared the formation of a new union within the New York office, the firm announced via a social media post late Thursday.

“Sage and Coombe Architects is pleased to announce it has recognized a union as requested by a committee of firm employees. Although we are uncertain about the impact of this process on an architectural office of our size and history, we respect the right to organize and are proud of what the committee called our 'humane, open, collegial, and supportive culture,'” a portion of their statement reads.

With the move, Sage and Coombe joins Bernheimer Architecture as the second significant office in the United States to have successfully formed a union within the past year. Another effort at Snøhetta’s New York and San Francisco office failed over the summer, prompting an investigation at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after the group Architectural Workers United (AWU) charged the firm’s leadership with miscond...

Accused Gilgo Beach murderer Rex Heuermann was also the architect of a wage theft scheme, new lawsuit claims

2023-09-06T15:14:00-04:00

Not only is he an accused serial killer, Rex Heuermann is also a deadbeat boss, according to the state Department of Labor. It filed suit Tuesday to recover nearly $70,000 in back wages, penalties and interest for stiffing a former executive assistant.

Rex Heuermann, an architect, was arrested in July near his firm’s Midtown Manhattan offices on charges related to the murders of three women. Their remains were discovered at Gilgo Beach in 2010. In a separate legal matter, Heuermann and his architectural firm, RH Consultants & Associates, are accused of wage theft. They allegedly underpaid an employee, Donna Sturman, by more than $20,908.10, which includes $9,454.56 owed to her as vacation pay. Before his arrest, Heuermann had paid $16,385 towards the owed amount. However, he defaulted on the remaining balance, leading to a lawsuit. As a result, he now owes an additional $33,362.16 in civil penalties and $9,767.48 in interest.

His firm has been the subject of scrutiny since Heuermann became a suspect. Tax liens and other investigations into his business dealings have also been publicized. An account from one former employee in New York magazine recently also detailed a culture of high stress and “creepy” behavior on the part of Heu...

Architectural Workers United charges Snøhetta with anti-union tactics

2023-08-29T19:58:00-04:00

Earlier this summer, Snøhetta was accused of unfair labor practices amid allegations of outside tampering during an unsuccessful union push at the firm.

On the afternoon of August 29, a charge on behalf of the Architectural Workers United (AWU) was filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Snøhetta of unlawfully discriminating against employees over their support for the failed unionization campaign.

“We trust that the National Labor Relations Board, upon hearing the evidence, will rule accordingly and in favor of the workers,” said David Sullivan (Machinists Union, IAM Eastern Territory General Vice) in a press release. “Today’s filing sends a message to the architecture industry that they are no different from any other industry and that if employers use illegal tactics to obstruct their employees from organizing, they will be held accountable.”

Related on Archinect: Snøhetta's U.S. office votes to not unionize

The AUW announced the news on Tuesday via Instagr...

Immigrant women detail a 'completely different world' on construction sites in NYC

2023-06-28T11:15:00-04:00

[C]onstruction is a risky job, and even more so for undocumented immigrants, who often work under informal verbal agreements. And for women, being vastly outnumbered on every construction site means more pressure to accept lower pay and mistreatment. That’s why, as more immigrant women don hard hats in New York City, advocates are training them to stand up against exploitation – and transform the construction industry itself.

More than half of New York City’s 200,000-plus-strong construction workforce are immigrants. Myriad abuses abound in informal labor markets, adding to a dangerous climate that last year saw fatalities reach a three-year high.

The women featured in the Guardian article also detailed a culture of sexual discrimination where gender norms are often a reluctant means to financial stability. As one worker stated, “Because we’re women, we are constantly being devalued in these jobs.”

Snøhetta's U.S. employees will vote today on unionization push

2023-06-14T12:53:00-04:00

An update has been provided in the case of Snøhetta’s U.S. employees who have, since the spring, been pushing internally to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union.

Staffers will vote today via mail-in ballots as to whether or not to join the union, which was also the subject of an unsuccessful push by SHoP employees that first gained attention in late-2021.

Snøhetta's effort to file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a union election first appeared on Archinect in early May.

Previously on Archinect: Snøhetta’s U.S. employees are seeking to unionize

"We are architects, landscape architects, designers, and operations staff who care deeply for Snøhetta, our projects, and the collaborative culture that makes our firm unique. We are proud of our work at Snøhetta and we are committed to our studio’s success. Through unionization, we will gain a collective voice in the future of our workplace and our profession," organizers said at ...

Rhode Island School of Design’s architecture faculty gives ‘unequivocal support’ to striking workers

2023-04-13T09:56:00-04:00

The architecture faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design has expressed its “unequivocal support” for striking workers on the campus. The strike, now approaching two weeks in duration, is being carried out by 60 movers, custodians, and ground service staff, represented by the Teamsters union.

“We express our unequivocal support for the custodians, groundskeepers, and movers currently on strike for a fair, decent wage at RISD,” a statement by the architecture department reads. “As educators and practitioners, we are acutely aware that the maintenance of our physical spaces is vital to the everyday functioning of our institution and is also the physical manifestation of our collective value systems. We firmly believe that RISD must fairly compensate and support the people whose tireless labor makes our work fundamentally possible. Their labor must be valued, recognized, and celebrated.”

“When employers use standards of minimum rather than standards of care, today’s living wage ...

New York State to require salary ranges in job adverts from September 2023

2022-12-22T12:36:00-05:00

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has signed legislation establishing a statewide pay transparency law in New York State. The law was passed by both the New York State Assembly and Senate in June, and requires employers to list salary ranges for all advertised jobs and promotions.

The new legislation closely resembles a similar salary transparency law that recently came into force in New York City last month, requiring employers of at least four businesses with four or more employees in the city, including architecture firms, to include salary ranges in job adverts or risk a financial penalty.

The New York State law will apply to jobs which “can or will be performed” in the state, as well as positions that are performed out of state but report to a New York employer. Individuals will be able to report violations of the law to the New York State Department of Labor, which can issue fines for non-compliance....

In 2022, architecture's labor movement roared back to life

2022-12-19T12:34:00-05:00

In any future analysis of architectural workplace conditions, the impact of 2022 cannot be understated. Throughout the year, our editorial played host to a wide variety of labor-related developments in the profession, from top-down efforts to improve salary transparency to bottom-up unionization drives across the United States and the world.

Notwithstanding decisions by lawmakers and firm principals to reform laws and business structures, respectively, the seismic shifts in architectural labor conditions were predominantly the results of grassroots efforts. Union groups such as Architectural Workers United and Bernheimer Architecture Union set valuable precedents for workers seeking to collectively organize in the years ahead, while The Architecture Lobby set out a vision for the profession that dispels the employee-employer relationship entirely.

Beyond the U.S., meanwhile, grassroots groups led to the formation of a union in Portugal, strike action and salary disclosure platforms...

UK salary transparency group releases first average pay lists in architecture firms

2022-11-03T04:00:00-04:00

A UK-based organization dedicated to salary transparency in architecture has published its first snapshot of salary results following hundreds of grassroots submissions. As we reported in October, The Pay 100 is calling on architecture workers in the UK to submit their salaries to the group, who will ultimately publish a list of the top 100 salary averages of UK practices.

The first salaries published by the group are organized in three categories corresponding to typical positions in the UK architecture profession. The group anticipate an additional seven categories will be published when sufficient data is collected.

The Archinect Salary Poll features thousands of crowdsourced salary data from across the architecture community

The three published categories center on positions typically occupied by those in the earlier part of their architectural career. The first category, “Part I Architectural Assistant <3 years” represents those in the UK system who are working in a practice ha...

Dissatisfied architects ‘would caution others against working in profession’ says union coalition survey

2022-10-14T14:01:00-04:00

A survey of architectural professionals conducted by a U.S. union coalition has revealed widespread dissatisfaction with pay, hours, and agency in workplace decisions. The survey of 436 professionals was led by the Department for Professional Employees, whose 24 affiliated unions include the IAM union which oversaw the recent unionizing effort at SHoP in New York City.

The survey, launched in April, found that architecture workers are eager for reforms in their workplace, with 90% wanting to see changes to working conditions. 63% of respondents report having little or no voice in policymaking at their firm, while 55% fear retaliation for speaking out about issues at their firm. 39% of respondents also believe their employers have not taken any steps to address diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

Survey presentation extract. Image credit: Department for Professional Employees

Despite several high-profile developments in the union movement in 2022, 83% of respondents sai...

UK worker-led group launched to improve salary transparency in architecture firms

2022-10-13T03:13:00-04:00

A worker-led organization has launched in the United Kingdom with the aim of improving salary transparency in the architecture profession. The Pay 100, founded earlier this year, is currently calling on architecture workers in the UK to submit their salaries to the group, who will ultimately publish a list of the top 100 salary averages of UK practices.

“By incentivising higher wages using pay transparency, we can help reduce fee-undercutting between practices and benefit the profession as a collective,” the group says. “This is a systemic issue in which no one practice is solely responsible.”

The Archinect Salary Poll features thousands of crowdsourced salary data from across the architecture community

The motivation for The Pay 100 is fuelled by a stagnation of UK architectural salaries in recent years. According to the group, the annual publication of pay-scale bands for architectural positions in the UK has caused salaries to stand still despite rising costs of living.

“If we be...

Companies divided over including salaries in job adverts, survey finds

2022-10-05T15:36:00-04:00

A series of salary transparency laws emerging across the U.S. is already having an impact on how companies approach disclosing pay range information, one survey has found. The study, undertaken by insurance advisor company WTW, found that many businesses are choosing to include information on salary ranges in job adverts, even when not required to under state or local laws.

WTW’s Pay Clarity Survey elicited 388 responses from businesses across North America, and was not specific to architecture or the AEC industry.

The survey was conducted between June 27th and July 8th of this year, at a time when several U.S. states were advancing plans to introduce salary transparency laws for job adverts. In May, it was confirmed that New York City businesses will have to disclose salary ranges in job adverts starting from November 2022, while a similar move by New York State was advanced in June.

In early September, California lawmakers updated and passed their own salary transparency law, wh...

UK architecture workers preparing for 'historic strike ballot' over pay and conditions dispute

2022-09-14T10:30:00-04:00

Workers at London-based Atomik Architecture are preparing to ballot for strike action, following a dispute over pay and conditions at the firm. Workers at the firm informed management on Tuesday of their intention to ballot for what could become the first ever strike by private-sector architecture workers in the UK.

In a statement released via the UK trade union UVW-SAW, the workers say that the decision follows months of being ignored by management after raising issues regarding pay and conditions, both individually in annual reviews and in a collective letter.

The group also claims that management at Atomik have responded to the dispute by triggering a redundancy consultation, which may lead to job losses. “This came as a shock to the workers, who until recently were under the impression the company was looking to expand the number of employees,” the UVW-SAW statement says.

The group also claims that management have refused to postpone an upcoming redundancy consultation meeting ...

California lawmakers pass salary transparency law for job adverts

2022-09-02T11:43:00-04:00

Legislators in California have passed a bill strengthening the state’s pay transparency requirements. Elements contained in the bill, SB 1162, include a requirement for many employers to include salary ranges in job postings, disclose salary scales to employees for their current positions, and to file pay data reports.

The new bill requires an employer with 15 or more employees to include a pay scale in any job posting, and to maintain records of their employees' job titles and wage rate histories. The bill also requires that employers of 15 or more employees using a third party to advertise job postings to provide the pay scale to the third party for publication.

Upon request, an employer must provide an employee with the pay scale for the position in which the employee is currently employed. The bill also requires employers with...

First architecture union formed by workers at New York firm Bernheimer Architecture

2022-09-01T10:40:00-04:00

Workers at New York firm Bernheimer Architecture have formed the first functioning union at a private-sector architecture firm in the United States. The workers group, collectively known as BA Union, will join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), as first reported by The New York Times.

The firm, led by Andrew Bernheimer, has chosen to recognize the union voluntarily, which avoided the need for a secret ballot election to be held in coordination with the NLRB, a procedure which we explained in our recent feature article on the subject. Bernheimer has also been publicly supportive of the union’s formation at his 22-person firm.

"We know that architecture is a discipline and profession that has a legacy of exploitation," Bernheimer told The New York Times. "I am of the opinion that one possible way for things to improve is for educators and professionals to show that they value the people who make all of our architecture happen."

Related on Arch...

Portuguese architectural workers have announced a new union

2022-07-20T09:00:00-04:00

Architectural workers in Portugal have announced the formation of a new labor union following months of debate and deliberation.

The group known as Movimento dos Trabalhadores em Arquitectura (MTA) is saying they have adopted a constitution and bylaws following its declaration of intent to organize a union, which they made on May 1st, 2021 — International Workers’ Day — at the Casa Sindical de Campanhã in Porto. The new union will go by the name SINTARQ (short for “Sindicato dos Trabalhadores em Arquitectura”) and be steered by a temporary committee until national elections can be held at a later date and time.

“This moment could only be achieved through the hard work, dedication and solidarity of everyone who has contributed, in one way or another, to this cause over the last three years,” part of the group’s statement reads. “Along the way, it has become clear that better work...

New York State may join NYC in wage transparency laws after senate vote

2022-06-09T08:00:00-04:00

A bill has passed both the New York State Assembly and Senate which would require employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings. If signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, New York would become the latest state to pass wage transparency laws, following similar moves in Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Washington, and Maryland.

The news comes one month after New York City confirmed that its own salary disclosure laws would come into effect from November 1st of this year, following a six-month delay. The NYC law will require businesses with four or more employees in the city, including architecture firms, to include salary ranges in job adverts or risk a financial penalty.

The New York State bill, named S9427, pertains to adverts for new job positions, promotions, or transfer opportunities that will be fully or partly performed in the state of New Y...

'Architectural worker' Muyiwa Oki chosen to challenge for RIBA presidency

2022-05-06T14:59:00-04:00

Oki, a qualified architect at global construction company Mace, has been chosen by an informal collective of early-career architects, students and architectural activists keen to shake-up the institute and move it beyond ‘empty slogans and self-serving initiatives’.

The campaigning collective behind Muyiwa Oki’s nomination includes grassroots organization Future Architects Front (FAF), past and current RIBA Council members, and RIBA’s Future Architects members.

As previously reported by Archinect, the group announced in March its intentions to put forth a “drama-free RIBA president who enacts positive, ethical and progressive change” as well as someone who would better address issues such as employment rights and climate change. This, the collective believes, would come from an early-career architectural worker who is likely to be more active and connected to these concerns.

Previously on Archinect: A group of UK architects is pushing for youth movement at the top of RIBA’s leadership

Oki, who obtained his Bachelor and Master of Architecture from The University of Sheffield, with previous experience at Grimshaw, will challenge for the position left by current president Simon Allford when his term ends in 2023.

However, he still needs to acqui...

New York City firms will have to disclose salary ranges in job adverts, but not until November

2022-05-06T10:20:00-04:00

The New York City Council has voted to postpone the enforcement of a new law which would have seen businesses with four or more employees in the city, including architecture firms, of including salary ranges in job advertisements. The law, which was set to take effect from May 15th, will now take effect on November 1st.

The law was originally passed in January, with the goal of closing the gender and race pay gap through encouraging more transparent salary information. However, heavy lobbying by business groups including JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs saw the implementation delayed by six months. Lobbyists also sought to exempt companies with fewer than 15 employees from the disclosure, up from the original bill’s threshold of four employees or fewer. However, this amendment was unsuccessful.

Under the new law, which will be enforced by the city’s Commission on Human Rights, em...

Survey launches to shape unionization efforts in architecture

2022-04-07T09:00:00-04:00

The Department for Professional Employees (DPE), a coalition of U.S.-based unions, has launched a survey seeking to understand the unionization landscape in the architectural profession. The group’s 24 affiliated unions span from artists to school administrators as well as the IAM union which oversaw the recent unionizing effort at SHoP in New York City.

The survey was launched in the wake of the efforts at SHoP and is aimed at collecting views from architectural workers on current conditions in the industry. The results of the survey will also help DPE shape their plans to support future union efforts in architecture.

“We’ve heard rumblings of dissatisfaction among employees in architectural occupations and professions and want to help them organize to create a better industry,” DPE President Jennifer Dorning told Archinect. “With our survey for architectural professionals, we are hoping to get a better sense of the most important workplace issues and how we can best support archit...

Architects in New York City may soon have to include salary ranges in job postings

2022-01-05T13:31:00-05:00

Architecture firms in New York City recruiting new staff may soon be required to include salary ranges in jobs postings, following the passage of a new bill through the New York City Council. The bill requires NYC employers with four or more employees to include the minimum and maximum salary offered in job postings for any position located in New York City.

The bill states that the range would need to “extend from the lowest to the highest salary the employer in good faith believes at the time of the posting it would pay for the advertised job, promotion or transfer opportunity.” Employers who do not comply with the requirement will be deemed to be engaging in discriminatory practices.

Having passed the New York City Council, the bill will now move to the Mayor of New York City for enactment. If signed, the bill would take effect 120 days later.

The move would have the potential to cau...

Unpaid internships 'deepen existing barriers' for emerging architects, says NCARB

2021-10-19T13:24:00-04:00

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has released a statement reaffirming its opposition to unpaid internships in architecture as well as offering advice for how firms and students can help combat the issue.

Under NCARB’s licensure rules, employers are required to compensate all students and licensure candidates for their work, regardless of duration or experience level. NCARB’s AXP Guidelines also state that “unpaid internships are not eligible to earn experience hours” with exceptions made for certain experiences garnered outside of architecture firms.

More broadly, the 1938 U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act demands that interns be paid at least the minimum wage, apart from a handful of exceptional circumstances including work shadowing, education, and an absence of financial benefit to the employer from the intern’s work.

“We believe that all e...

Workplace protections falter as climate change makes outdoor work more hazardous

2020-01-23T12:30:00-05:00

In 2018, 60 workers died due to temperature extremes, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data on workplace fatalities. Though the climate crisis is creating conditions where workers are facing hotter temperatures on a more frequent basis, there are no federal safety protections for workers in extreme temperatures, and only three states, California, Washington and Minnesota, have heat stress workplace protection standards.

The Guardian's Michael Sainato takes a look at the increasingly dangerous nature of outdoor work as climate change makes extreme heat a greater danger for people who labor outside.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 783 workers in the United States died and more than 69,000 workers were injured due to heat exposure while on the job between 1992 and 2016, though the actual figures are likely higher due under-reporting.

According to Sainato's report, federal oversight over workplace safety, especially for outdoor workers, has decreased sharply under the administration of President Donald Trump despite the fact that global temperatures are going up and the number of "dangerous heat days" is expected to double over the next 30 years.

Migrant laborers file lawsuit against casino developer in U.S. territory, claiming forced labor

2019-06-26T14:43:00-04:00

Seven Chinese labourers who worked on the construction of a casino and resort in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are suing the owner of the project and two of its contractors, alleging they were victims of a forced labour scheme and had suffered injuries on site. The labourers were working on the Imperial Pacific casino and resort in Saipan, the largest island in the South Pacific commonwealth.

GCR covers the lawsuit seven laborers from China have brought forward against the casino's developer Imperial Pacific International, contractor MCC International Saipan Ltd Co, and contractor Gold Mantis Construction Decoration in Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth island just 120 miles north of Guam.

Among a long list of labor rights issues, human rights abuses, misleading work authorization promises, and safety violations, the plaintiffs claim that "despite receiving injuries, those in charge did not take employees to hospital and banned them from seeking medical assistance, threatening deportation," on top of allegedly being denied injury compensation.