RIBA action on low pay ‘does not go far enough’ Portland Place, London Middlesex England

The RIBA has announced a package of measures it says will tackle student hardship and low pay.

These include trebling the student hardship fund, strengthening the chartered practice employment criteria and campaigning for paid work placements.

But while architects welcomed the proposals, they complained they do not go far enough.

BD has been reporting on the issue of low pay since breaking the story in March that London practice Parritt Leng was advertising work at below the minimum wage. A Facebook group set up in protest at the RIBA’s weak response now boasts more than 2,800 members.

The new proposals include:

• An extra £75,000 for the RIBA student hardship fund for 2010/11.
• Inserting rigorous minimum pay requirements into the RIBA Chartered Practice employment criteria and Code of Professional Conduct.
• Campaigning to remove the exemption from the minimum wage for practical training requirements over six months.
• Reviewing architecture courses to improve employability.

Speaking at RIBA Council last Thursday, RIBA president Ruth Reed – who claims to have pushed the measures through faster than is normally possible – said: “Strong action is urgently needed and I believe these measures will make a difference to people’s lives today.

“I’m really pleased they were adopted unanimously. It is a measure of the urgency of the problem.”

Keith Tomlinson, founder of the Facebook group Architects Against Low Pay, said he was pleased the RIBA was finally responding to pressure from his members and BD.

He added: “But then you read the small print: ’At least the minimum wage after more than six months’. Is that really the best we can do for our young architectural talent? If you go to [work for] McDonald’s, you can get ’at least the minimum wage’ from day one.

“It is incredibly depressing to find that having set up this group to campaign for fair payment ’above’ the minimum wage, the RIBA seems to be settling for so little and then promoting it as if it is some kind of a ’great leap forward’.”

Do RIBA’s measures do enough to tackle low pay?

RIBA president Ruth Reed says the institute will define reasonable pay levels, but Keith Tomlinson argues the profession needs to fight harder for fair wages

YES:

The worsening economic climate has allowed the issue of low pay to manifest itself within the heart of the profession, bringing serious repercussions upon all architects, but particularly the most vulnerable groups, including students, graduates, and young practitioners. I have led the RIBA to deliver urgent practical and financial support for those directly affected, but it is our collective responsibility as architects to tackle low pay; and time is of the essence.

It is the responsibility of the professional institute to set the parameters that define professional behaviour not only towards clients and society but also to each other. The institute will define reasonable pay levels and act against chartered members who fail to comply; failure to do so is a dereliction of professional duty.

Reasonable levels of remuneration that recognise employees’ skills and contribution to fee earning are a minimum requirement. The pressure to stop ridiculously low fee bids, which drive down income and foster the culture of low pay, will not come from clients or government so it has to come from within the profession. Ultimately professionalism is at stake.

The profession is not a charity – we are highly talented people with marketable skills. Practices should take a long-term view and invest in young talent as well as retaining the best of mature employees to avoid replicating the “lost generation” of the early nineties.

We are doing what we can and will continue to do so; now it’s over to you.

NO:

It seems to me that working as an architect is alarmingly similar to supporting the England football team. The passion is there. The overpaid stars are there. You can even see the potential. But then…

When the low pay issue first blew up, the RIBA was dismissive of the debate, preferring instead to attack the messenger. So the latest announcement of “rigorous” and “strong” action on low pay came as a welcome surprise.

Certainly the proposed increase in the hardship fund, improvements in architecture courses to improve employability, and the new review group are all positive developments.

But the RIBA’s newly declared ambition to ensure graduates, on work placements of six months or over, are paid “at least the minimum wage” seems to be a pitifully weak aspiration for our professional body to hold. What happened to “the entire architectural profession should be supported, valued, and paid fairly”?

I created the Facebook group Architects Against Low Pay in response to the anger felt about BD’s story of graduates being paid at or below the minimum wage.

To discover that many architects are either not being paid at all, or are just receiving travel expenses, while RIBA’s chief executive Harry Rich brands them as “less imaginative people standing around moaning” is profoundly depressing. Unfortunately Harry’s reaction is little more than one would expect from a tired and complacent organisation like the RIBA.

Source: www.bdonline.co.uk