The Section of Architectural Workers (SAW) – which was set up in 2019 as a democratic grassroots union – has now officially affiliated to Unite after forming a national branch earlier this month.

Unite regional officer Declan Murphy said: “With the creation of the new architectural branch, Unite now represents workers across the entire construction industry.

“From the drawing board to putting shovels in the ground, from engineering to joinery, Unite is there standing up for all construction workers.”

SAW has a number of successes already under its belt including coordinating members in taking industrial action to work from home during the pandemic and supporting over 150 members with individual casework resulting in settlements totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds.

SAW also successfully campaigned to elect Muyiwa Oki as the first worker-representative as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

A SAW spokesperson said: “This is an incredibly exciting moment for SAW and the architectural labour movement generally. By affiliating to Unite, the UK’s leading union, architectural workers are now even better equipped to fight against the workplace mistreatment they so regularly face.

“If you are not already a member of SAW, now is the time to join Unite, get organised and transform the sector from the bottom-up.”