Archinect - News

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...

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 ...

Following the withdrawal of SHoP's unionization effort, the architecture community reacts

2022-02-04T17:25:00-05:00

A unionization effort at SHoP Architects that drew attention from across the industry has now been defeated after organizers officially withdrew their petition with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB) to form a labor union within the office.

After a push toward unionization was first made public by the New York Times in December, staffers at the 26-year-old firm are now abandoning the effort, citing a “powerful anti-union campaign” from within and decisions amongst the petitioners to pursue “alternatives” to address some of the abusive workplace conditions that the effort has brought to the fore.

Previously on Archinect: SHoP staffers announce unionization as the industry continues to shift away from traditional firm models

In a statement posted to an Instagram account associated with the group Architectural Workers United (AWU) on Thursday, organizers cited a dissolution of the unity which had carried the effort thus far, claiming that the newfound lack of a quorum was born out ...

GSAPP United: how student unions affect architectural labor, ft. A.L. Hu, GSAPP MArch student and organizer with Graduate Workers of Columbia, on Archinect Sessions #81

2016-09-15T18:50:00-04:00

In a landmark decision last month, Columbia University graduate students won the right to unionize in a case filed against the National Labor Relations Board. As a result, graduate students in private universities across the U.S. now have the right to collectively bargain. What effect does this have on architecture student labor, and the valuation of architecture overall?

We're joined this week by special guest A.L. Hu, a third-year GSAPP MArch student and key organizer with Graduate Workers of Columbia (GWC-UAW). Hu shared what's happening at the school after the landmark decision, and how these organizing efforts can affect the architecture profession overall.

Listen to episode 81 of Archinect Sessions, "GSAPP United":

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