This evening a member of UVW-SAW, Taty, phoned me to welcome me to the union and explain to me more about its workings and ways that I can get involved. It was great to get to talk things through with them, explain to them my reasons for joining and how I had first heard about them, and learn more about how they operate.
Photo of some of the original members of UVW-SAW, when they first set up
Two of the main things explained to me were branch meetings and working groups.
Branch meetings happen every month, and prior to COVID-19 lockdown they had happened by people meeting up in person, in London, where the majority of members are based. However, since lockdown, these have happened via Zoom video call. Taty said that as these have been successful, they imagine that they will continue to use this method into the future. This is positive thing for allowing people outside of London to feel as fully involved. Taty did mention that prior to the lockdown, a Manchester-based group of members had started having their own branch meetings, whilst in-person meetings were happening.
Working groups are groups within the union focusing on different things. For example, Taty is in one working group which coordinates meetings and communicates information to members, as well as phoning new members like me to welcome them. Another group focuses on communications, publicity and press. For example, prior to the phone call, two articles were shared in the WhatsApp group which had been written by members of UVW-SAW and were published in the Architect's Journal. These both focus on the appalling way that some architectural workers are being treated during this COVID-19 crisis, and are both worth reading.
Screenshot of the start of the 'rogue practices' article on the AJ website
I explained to Taty that I am in the last few weeks of my masters, and that until that I concluded I want to focus on that, but that after that I'm really keen to get involved with branch meetings and some of the working groups. They completely understood that, having been through it themselves, so I will look forward to being in touch with them in a few weeks time and getting stuck in.
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