This week, the labor movement in architecture scored a win. Sage & Coombe Architects, a women-led firm based in New York City, unanimously approved a collective bargaining agreement. It’s the second American practice to ratify a contract, after Bernheimer Architecture in 2024.
“This contract, the second in the industry, sets a standard for workers at Sage and Coombe and beyond,” Architectural Workers United (AWU), a group that has been helping firms organize, announced on April 1 via Instagram. The agreement’s details have yet to be made public.
The milestone marks a significant move in the design industry’s unionizing efforts, especially after high-profile setbacks.
In 2022, the New York-based firm SHoP abandoned its unionizing efforts following what AWU called a “powerful anti-union campaign.” Then in 2023, the American arm of the multidisciplinary design firm Snøhetta voted against unionizing. In January, the National Labor Relations Board filed a formal complaint against Snøhetta, alleging the firm illegally dismissed eight employees in relation to organizing.
Architecture—a field known for long hours and low pay—has historically been difficult to unionize in the United States. “It’s oddly different than other industry,” Andrew Daley, a staff organizer at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, told Fast Company back in 2023. “There’s literally no proliferation of unions in any way, shape, or form. Like, zero density when we started.”
Sage & Coombe’s contract comes after three years of unionizing efforts. In 2023, employees at the firm formed a union, which the office’s managerial team voluntarily recognized.
“We are pleased to announce that we have signed a collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,” Sage & Coombe said in an Instagram post. “We respect the efforts of our colleagues who initiated this process, and we believe the agreement will affirm the workplace conditions we established over the last 30 years and contribute to our continuing success in delivering great projects for our clients.”