New York studio Bernheimer Architecture has announced that its employees will join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, making it the first private-sector architecture studio in the US to unionize.
It was announced yesterday that the employees at Bernheimer Architecture would unionize the studio, advocating for respect and transparency in the relationship between owners and workers.
"The staff and management of Bernheimer Architecture are proud to announce that the employees of Bernheimer have organized the first private sector union of architectural professionals in the United States under a voluntary recognition agreement," said the organizers in an International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) statement. The affiliation between the Bernheimer Architecture employees and the IAMAW was organized with Architectural Workers United ? a group that seeks to facilitate the unionization of architecture firms.
"We recognize that both the employer and employees in the field of architectural work face constraints and challenges beyond the control of any individual firm and that by working together we can uplift the profession and industry in ways that we could not by acting alone," said the statement from the studio's workers.
"Uncharted territory" for private studios
Although workers at Bernheimer Architecture believed that they are being fairly compensated and work reasonable hours, they thought...