Architects want salary of 1300 euros when entering the profession | Architecture

Sintarq — Union of Architectural Workers called on all professionals this Tuesday to discuss and approve the first salary tables for the architectural sector, namely the proposal of 1300 euros entry salary into the profession.

In the plenary session, scheduled for May 1st, at 10am, at the headquarters of Sintarq, in Porto, the conclusions of a national survey on professional expectations, carried out at the end of 2023, will be discussed, which had broad support from workers surveyed for the requirement of 1300 euros in starting salary, the reduction of working hours to 35 hours per week, overtime with better pay and greater restrictions, and the establishment of careers as a central instrument for raising wages and combating discrimination and harassment.

In a statement, Sintarq highlights that “by way of example, 94% of respondents defend a weekly workload of up to 35 hours, the median salary expectation of a worker with five to ten years of experience is 1800 euros and 80% of respondents declare work overtime, half of which without receiving any compensation for it”.

According to preliminary data from this study, “an architectural worker finds himself fleeced by at least 500 to 800 euros per year in uncompensated overtime”, maintains the union, established in April 2022.

“This survey made it possible to gauge the professional expectations of those who work in architecture and confirm, once again, the portrait of precariousness and transversal indignity in the sector”, he considers.

The request book that will be submitted for discussion proposes two salary tables: one for designers and another for specialized technicians, divided into assistant, junior and senior professional careers. According to Sintarq, progression takes into account the years of experience or the functions actually performed, regardless of seniority.

The criteria that determine this progression and that will serve to counteract the transversal stagnation of careers will also be under discussion on May 1st.

In addition to wages, careers and working hours, basic demands are proposed in other areas such as: parental rights, regulation of teleworking, vacation days, guarantees of safety and health at work and certified professional training.

This meeting is the culmination of a process lasting around a year and which included ten open discussion meetings held in Braga, Coimbra, Porto, Lisbon and Setúbal, and which now concludes in this last national plenary in Porto.

Registration for the plenary session is open on the Sintarq website and all workers in the sector can participate, or workers from other professional sectors can attend as guests.