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 to give the workers and UVW-SAW time to prepare.

In response to the latest development, Atomik director Mike Oades told Archinect the following: "We only saw the notice to ballot last night and have no further comment at this stage other than, in the interest of context, everyone in the practice received a pay rise of at least 7% in June."

“We believe our members at Atomik are the first ever group of private sector architects to ballot to strike, so if this strike goes ahead, it will be an industry first, and one that all architects and members of the movement should get behind.,” said Petros Elia, general secretary of UVW.

“UVW has shown yet again that there is no group of workers who are unorganisable, and whether you are an architect or a cleaner, you have the power and every reason to unite, fight and strike,” Elia continued. “I call on Atomik’s bosses to negotiate with us and avoid what could become incredibly operationally and reputationally damaging strike action which will receive the full support of our union. The choice is yours.”

In order to address what the group describes as “two years of uncertainty and low wage growth,” the workers at Atomik are demanding a pay increase of 10% to reflect high inflation in the UK economy, or to receive a 7% increase with a model of profit-sharing to be negotiated. The group also seeks reduced working hours to reflect industry norms by reducing hours from 9-6 to 9-5. 

The group’s other demands are a flexible working arrangement of two days of remote working per week, paid CPD training as opposed to the current need to undertake CPD during unpaid lunch breaks, and trade union recognition so that workers can collectively negotiate on pay and other changes to terms and conditions.

“We are disappointed that Atomik has continuously dismissed and ignored our individual and collective concerns,” said the Atomik workers in a joint statement. “We were expecting to collaborate to improve conditions at the practice but instead, we have had months of empty promises and zero progress." 

"We have all worked at Atomik for a number of years, but that loyalty has not been reciprocated in meaningful improved pay or working conditions," the group adds. "We have been forced into this position, striking is our last resort.”

News of the strike ballot action at Atomik follows weeks after workers at New York firm Bernheimer Architecture formed the first functioning union at a private-sector architecture firm in the United States.

You can learn more about the story of the union movement in architecture through our in-depth feature article on the subject here or by following our rolling news coverage of the topic here.

Author note: This article was updated at 12:18PM EST to include a comment from Atomik director Mike Oades.