One of New York City’s top architecture firms is under fire for allegedly dismissing a handful of employees who tried to unionize.
The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint on Friday accusing Snohetta of firing eight workers part of a failed unionization effort, the New York Times reported. The complaint alleges the firm made the cuts “to discourage employees from engaging” in collective action.
Elaine Molinar, a partner at Snohetta, said “business considerations” were at play in the firings and that the union preferences of individual employees were largely unknown.
A paper trail, however, suggests otherwise.
In 2023, employees tried to align with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, first seeking voluntary recognition from management before filing for a union election that May. The vote ultimately failed, 35-29.
Weeks later, management announced that layoffs were coming. The eight people let go were all supporters of the unionization effort.
Email correspondence accessible to employees allegedly uncovered discussions by managers the day before the vote about who supported the unionization effort. Email exchanges after the vote reportedly underlined a desire to prevent further unionization efforts by getting rid of supporters.
A labor board judge will litigate the case, which can be appealed to a national board if Snohetta comes out on the losing end. Backpay for affected employees is one of the penalties on the table.
Snohetta was founded in 2004 by architects from a Norwegian company and has gone on to design several notable public projects. Recently, the firm was involved in Gary Barnett’s supertall on the former Disney campus on the Upper West Side.
Unionization is rare for architects, but there is a growing movement focusing on issues such as low pay, extensive hours and unpaid overtime.
In February 2022, SHoP Architects employees dropped a unionization effort following a “powerful anti-union campaign,” in the words of Architectural Workers United.
Months later, the workers at New York-based Bernheimer Architecture announced the formation of a union, the country’s first private-sector union at an architecture firm.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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