Quote:quote:I have received this and I am passing it on as it is revealing of the context in which archaeologists operate nowadays. One of the goals of Archaeologists for Global Justice is of course campaigning for the dignity of our profession and against the loss of knowledge and expertise. I believe that this is not only of concern for British-based colleagues.

Cheers,
Umberto



Museum of London Branch of Prospect
Stop job cuts at MoLAS!

Major redundancies and restructuring have been proposed by executive managers at the Museum of London's Archaeology Service. Out of a pool of
13 finds specialists, 8-11 job cuts are proposed, with a further 5-6 redundancies in MoLAS's 15-strong management team. The job losses amount to a 10% cut in the workforce and mean that vital skills could be lost to the Museum completely. The threatened staff have worked at MoLAS for at least eight years, some for over twenty years.

Executive managers, advised by business consultants with no previous experience of archaeology, argue in their redundancy Consultation Document that there is a 'decrease in demand' or 'demand does not exist'
for the 13 Post-Roman Finds, Building Material, Animal Bone and Botany Specialists. Yet figures show there is a total of four to five years'
work waiting to be done by the threatened finds specialists. In addition to this, MoLAS is about to start digging major archaeological sites in London and elsewhere that will produce an avalanche of finds for the specialists to analyse. Demand for the specialists is set to increase, not fall. Executive managers also argue that the specialists are not 'financially sustainable', yet increases in specialist charge-out rates in April will not be given the chance to take effect before redundancy notices are handed out. The £250,000pa the specialists bring into MoLAS from external clients will be put in jeopardy by the cuts and MoLAS may not be able to honour existing commitments.

The redundancies in MoLAS's management team don't add up either. Fifteen posts are threatened but with sixteen posts in a new proposed management structure, executive managers can't explain how they have arrived at a figure of 5-6 redundancies. They argue that the new jobs are fundamentally different from the current ones. But is the new 'Post Excavation Manager' job really that different from the current 'Project Manager (Post Excavation)' job, for example? Similarities in the job descriptions between the current and the new jobs suggest that managers will effectively be forced to reapply for their own jobs.

The MoLAS website says that specialists 'are at the forefront of current research in their fields and command international reputations' and 'offer a comprehensive range of services that combine reliability and cost-effectiveness with academic excellence.' The management team has worked on hundreds of projects in London, the UK and abroad, including the proposed Olympics sites. The work of specialists and management has helped ensure MoLAS is one of the leading archaeological units in the country and one of the foremost archaeological publishers in Europe. The loss of their skills will damage not only MoLAS and the Museum, but British archaeology and heritage too.

In 1998, MoLAS staff were told by executive managers to accept cuts in annual leave and other conditions to 'secure the long-term future' of specialists and make MoLAS 'more competitive'. But it didn't work - MoLAS is in trouble again. The current redundancy proposals will also fail to improve MoLAS's long term financial viability because they too ignore the underlying problem - that, just like other archaeological units, MoLAS does not charge clients enough in the cut-throat archaeological market.

There is an alternative. Prospect is currently negotiating with employers' organisation SCAUM to mitigate the affect of the cut-throat market. The idea is that archaeological units agree to work together to make improvements that benefit everyone rather than undercutting each other. Instead of axing skills, executive managers should be using MoLAS's dominance of the London market and influence with the archaeologists' professional body the IFA in backing Prospect's initiative. They should be investing in specialists and managers, not making job cuts.

What you can do: write to Michael Cassidy, Chairman of Museum of London Board of Governors, Members' Room, PO Box 270, Guildhall, London, EC2P 2EJ, michael.cassidy@dlapiper.com telling him to stop the job cuts.


--
Umberto Albarella
Department of Archaeology
University of Sheffield
Northgate House
West Street
Sheffield S1 4ET
United Kingdom
Telephone: (+) 44 (0) 114 22 22 943
Fax: (+) 44 (0) 114 27 22 563
http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/albarella.html
For Archaeologists for Global Justice (AGJ) see:
http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/global-justice.html

"There is no way to peace. Peace IS the way".

Quote:quote:Originally posted by drpeterwardle

MOLAS employ 150 core staff plus 200 field staff so with a total payroll of 350 loosing 17 jobs is not that great a proportion.