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 and Jess Myers 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: [email protected]

📚 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

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