During the 1930s, as unemployment among architects and draftsmen in the United States reached 90 percent or more, these practitioners joined with other technical workers to form the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians (FAECT). From 1933 until after World War II, the FAECT served as a trade union and activist organization for the purpose of securing higher wages, employment benefits, and labor rights. For architectural workers the organization also focused on a commitment to affordable housing and the efficiency of manufactured housing. Through its publications, the FAECT Bulletin and Technical America, the Federation debated key issues and promoted its advocacy to members nationwide. In The Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians (FAECT): The Politics and Social Practice of Labor, Mardges Bacon examines how the FAECT provides a historical model of solidarity and activism for future practitioners in the architecture profession.
University of California Press