[084] – Understanding the Architecture Labor Movement

Who is the Architectural Workers United? 

The Architectural Workers United is organizing towards making architecture more equitable, the profession more just, and our built environment more resilient. Join us as we interview Andrew Daley (AWU, organizer) and Jess Myers (RISD, faculty) to learn more about the architectural labor movement, unions, and the history of labor practices in architecture. 

What are the biggest misconceptions? What is the benefit? What are the most common questions people ask? We’ll discover all of this and more as we discuss why there is a growing group of advocates standing behind AWU.

Guests:

Andrew Daley is an organizer, activist, and licensed architect living and working in Brooklyn. He is currently working with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) on organizing efforts within the architecture industry. He has 12 years of experience working for a number of offices in multiple states, most recently for 7 years at SHoP Architects as a Project Director working on US embassies worldwide.

Jess Myers is an assistant professor in Rhode Island School for Design’s architecture department. Her podcast Here There Be Dragons offers an in-depth look into the intersection of identity politics and security policy in public space through the eyes of New Yorkers, Parisians and Stockholmers. Her work can be found in The Architect’s Newspaper, The Funambulist Magazine, Failed Architecture, Dwell and l’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui. (Read more about Jess on Madame Architect.)

Show Links: 
AWU Website
AWU FAQ Page
AWU How to Unionize
AWU Instagram
AWU Twitter
AWU Contact: architectural.workers.united@gmail.com

Continue Learning:
Labor Resources

DPE Data Sheet
EPI Productivity-Pay Gap
EPI Union Density-Top 10% Income
DOL Employee Rights
NLRB Website
National Labor Relations Act
NYC Central Labor Council

Architecture Labor Resources

The Architecture Lobby Union Pamphlet (downloadable pamphlet)
Architecture and Anti-Trust Article
Why Don’t Architects Have Unions? (by Jess Myers)
Architecture and Labor (review of book by Peggy Deamer)
NCARB Demographics
AIA Bias Report
FAECT Article (by Mardges Bacon)

Press about AWU (selected)

New York Times Article
Curbed Article
New York Review of Architecture Article
Architectural Record Article
Architect’s Newspaper Article

Press about Overwork/Burnout/Stress

Harvard Business Review Article (about long hours)
Salon Article (about 40 hour work week)
Gallup Union Support Poll
CNBC Article (about long hours)
Wall Street Journal Article (about overtime)
World Economic Forum (about employees leaving)
National Bureau of Economic Research (union job satisfaction study)

Recent Professional Unions
(Non-Exhaustive, there are 6,000,000 professional union members)

VICE Media Union (est. 2017) – WGA East
VOX Media Union (est. 2018) – WGA East
The New Yorker Union (est. 2018) – News Guild
New York Magazine Union (est. 2018) – News Guild
Wirecutter Union – (est. 2019) – News Guild
New Museum Union – (est. 2019) – UAW
Whitney Museum Union – (est. 2020) – UAW
Guggenheim Union – (est. 2021) – UAW
ACLU Lawyers – (est. 2021) – IFTPE