Get Organised!

Transform your workplace today

The best way to get higher pay, shorter hours, or better benefits is to collectively negotiate with your employer. To do this you need to convince your colleagues that it is in their interest to work together. This is what ‘workplace organising’ is all about.

When you negotiate pay and conditions alone, you are often ignored or belittled.

When you Organise together, you have the power to negotiate with you employer as an equal party.

you and your colleagues can use this method to address any particular issues that relate to your workplace.

The more of us negotiating TOGETHER, the quicker architecture can change for the better.

REMEMBER: Fees follow fair pay!

The faster we make exploitation impossible, the faster architectural fees will reflect the value of our architectural work.

get started

You can reach out confidentially to the Workplace Organising team to learn more and get the organising resources pack.

You can also attend an after work drop-in session, check the SAW calendar for dates.

train

When you have a few interested colleagues, you should attend one of SAW x Unite’s regular trainings to learn how to:

  • Analyse your workplace and understand what change is achievable. (hint: it’s usually a lot!)

  • Engage in constructive conversations about unionising with your colleagues.

  • Get your organising group ready to win the changes you want to see.

organise!

Once you have a strong group, you should reach out to your other colleagues to ask them to get involved.

This is the hardest step, and will take the most time.

Unionising is about empowering your colleagues to get what they want and need from work. It is not about imposing your desires for change upon them. Therefore, you must listen carefully to the needs of every new person, and update your collective goals for change accordingly.

recognition

When a majority of your colleagues agree, it’s time to ask your employer to negotiate with you as a group.

The best way to do this is through a voluntary collective bargaining agreement, also known as a recognition agreement. These agreements are commonplace in many professional settings in the UK, ranging from medicine, education, public sector work and legal work.

Most employers see the mutual benefits of recognition and will, once you have done a little explaining, happily agree.

However, if they refuse, you may be able to purse a statutory recognition agreement.