Bjarke Ingels. Image credit: REFORM Sofie Mathiassen
Workers from Bjarke Ingels Group’s London office held a protest outside their office yesterday over the studio’s redundancy plans. A union group claims that in December the firm announced that approximately 140 jobs were at risk due to the loss of a major project, though the UK-based Architect’s Journal reported this week that 72 roles are at risk.
Approximately 80 people gathered outside the pavement of the office yesterday, reports the Architect’s Journal, which also reports that the major project lost by the firm was a Red Sea resort in Saudi Arabia. The protests are affiliated with the Section of Architectural Workers, a branch of the major UK union Unite, which described the redundancy plans as “disgusting.”
“We’ve been told ‘we’re all victims of the same circumstances,’ but partners and associates had their pay protected and also refused to take any cuts, while a third of us face redundancy,” one worker at the firm said, according to Unite. “Management won’t provide proper figures, hold meetings during lunch breaks, and rushed the original process so badly they had to restart in January. They’re not consulting, they’re forcing this through.”
The protest comes weeks after the National Labor Relations Board in the United States accused Snøhetta of illegally laying off eight employees for their support of forming a union at the firm. Snøhetta has denied the allegations.
Similar articles on Archinect that may interest you…