Unions and Other Support: A Guide for Navigating Work Life

Unions play a vital role in supporting workers across industries, including architecture, by advocating for fair pay, protecting against exploitation, offering legal advice and wellbeing benefits, and giving employees a stronger collective voice—particularly in addressing challenges like unpaid overtime and unethical work practices in competitive firms.

By Kyra Cousins [HR]

What can you do when that amazing job turns into a nightmare? Or your personal life bleeds into your career? Unions provide support to millions of people. There are industry-specific unions and more generalised unions like Unite. Over the last few years, Unions have been the clear line between haves and the have-nots. Providing safety for employees against both exploitation and poverty.

I was lucky enough to have a chat with Chris, a TUC (Trades Union Congress) representative. A warm, friendly voice told me about the importance of unions. Unions give people advice on employment law as well as other benefits, such as support, community, benefits (i.e. low-cost gym or healthcare plans), legal backing and cover during economic emergencies. Assistance varies from union to union and so does cost. Some unions will ask for a small percentage of your salary, while others have a modest flat rate. I was curious about what advice Chris would give to someone just starting out in the workplace, as many of my university colleagues would be at the start of their working life. The advice that stood out to me was that ‘companies cannot choose, not to recognise unions’ and doing so was ‘illegal’. Looking (far) back, I realise I had personally fallen for this ‘company policy’ hook, line and sinker. Next, he spoke about zero-hour contracts and how some companies “took the micky” out of new starters. This has been a hot debate for more than a decade, with some parties arguing that it gives workers flexibility and others (often those who have direct experience with zero-hour contracts) arguing that it leaves a grey area for employers to commit malpractice with no enforceable repercussions. Chris’s final piece of advice was to talk to your colleagues and find out which unions they were part of, as this would provide workers with more impact. 

So how do unions support the architectural industry? 

The key issues of the day are pay and unpaid overtime. This seems to be a more significant concern in larger prestige firms, Such as Foster + Partners, who regularly come under fire for their work culture. The competitive nature of the industry is seen as underpinning these issues, with firms trying to undercut their competitors at the expense of their staff. The industry itself seems to be hearing this, moving towards collaboration and employee rights. Most Unions also strive for collaboration over hostilities. Charlie Edmonds, co-founder of FAF (Future Architects Front) was quoted in a RIBA journal article as saying:

'Unionising is not simply a hostage negotiation where you’re demanding a ransom. The point of unionising is that it gives you a seat at the table. It gives you a role in the governance of the organisation. It’s not about gutting a company and running it into the ground, but about the workers having a say over how it is run, how funds are distributed and how decisions are made,’ 

Ethics such as human rights and climate justice are a key part of that industry governance, which current and historical unions, such as NAM (New Architecture Movement) (no longer active) have campaigned for. Alongside unions, there are additional architecture-based organisations who advocate for ethical issues within the industry, for example, ACAN (Architects Climate Action Network). 

Lastly, there is the Architects Benevolent Society set up on 27th November 1850, who assists the architectural community and their families. A charity, not a union, focusing solely on wellbeing and welfare. Their advice, grants and services are not dependent on membership, relying solely on donations.