Diversity and Justice in Architecture
This union campaign began as a group of architectural workers motivated to explore and solve issues of race and class that are endemic to the industry. We found that research consistently demonstrates that unions institutionalize norms of fairness and equity and narrow pay divides along lines of race and gender. This research led to the transformation of our informal conversations into a historic union campaign. At our heart, AWU’s goal remains one of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The murder of George Floyd alighted the fuse of what would become the catalyst for the largest call to action in American history around racial justice, leading to widespread questioning of existing systemic issues within all power structures. While our efforts are not aimed at police brutality against Black bodies, and we do not claim them to be, we are attempting to address representation and access to the profession while improving the working conditions within offices that people of color would be joining.
In the summer of 2020, on Zoom chats and text chains, just like so many other professions did, architectural workers began to question how we could make actionable steps towards increased diversity, equity, and inclusion within our office, profession, and built environments. We can do better and we must. It starts by addressing our hiring practices that narrow the pool of potential candidates to a privileged few from elite universities with personal connections. But we also must address the long hours, the uncompensated overtime, the late nights, the lack of work-life balance, and the low wages compared to our education and knowledge that make the profession so difficult for marginalized workers to stay and succeed.
