9th June 2004, 12:51 AM
Ah .. I should now come clean about just who/what BAJR does. When I am not spending days and nights on BAJR I am ... 2 days a wekk as a planning Archaeologist in a Council and the rest of the time I am a Consultant/Contractor/Whatever... (though not anywhere near my County!!) I fell I am in a fairly unique position of being both Gamekeeper and Poacher (its up to you to decide which is which!!)
With that in mind, I feel that As a Planning Archaeologist I am seeing a more distinct divide between those who consult and those who carry ou the work. It is easy to look at consultants as those that sleep with the enemy.. however.. it is the enemy tht pays for most archaeology in the UK. I have welcomed this more professional aspect.. though my caveat is that I will not tolerate cowboy activity - whether it is a one man consultant or a 'Big' Unit. At the end of the day we are all pulling in the same direction (or should be) and that is ensuring the archaeology and fragile heritage of the UK is cared for.
IF a consultant can come up with a cunning plan to let a gravel quarry go ahead and it is workable... then good ... if a contractor can get the work done to the highest standard (but at a competitive cost without cutting safety, wages or quality of service) then good. Lets not get too precious about what we do... but also let us not forget what we do
Cue the sound of stirring Elgar style music!!
To return to the wages thing.. I choose Council guides, because we have to start somewhere... and at least I am able to point to recognised standards and levels (hence the new Levels/Responsibility Grades) and I have to say that since BAJR introduced them there has been only ONE slight grumble! Pensions are difficult (especially on short contracts.. but there are clear guidelines on this including sizee of organisation etc.... As to security... we will just have to wait - though I feel that we will never escape from the wandering digger.. and personally I would not want to... Be a digger for 3-7 years... if you are still a digger then either enjoy it or leave it - cos otherwise you ain't going to be anything other than a digger... and then the choice is yours.
Anyway... time for me to shut up and get back to work!!
BAJR Host
With that in mind, I feel that As a Planning Archaeologist I am seeing a more distinct divide between those who consult and those who carry ou the work. It is easy to look at consultants as those that sleep with the enemy.. however.. it is the enemy tht pays for most archaeology in the UK. I have welcomed this more professional aspect.. though my caveat is that I will not tolerate cowboy activity - whether it is a one man consultant or a 'Big' Unit. At the end of the day we are all pulling in the same direction (or should be) and that is ensuring the archaeology and fragile heritage of the UK is cared for.
IF a consultant can come up with a cunning plan to let a gravel quarry go ahead and it is workable... then good ... if a contractor can get the work done to the highest standard (but at a competitive cost without cutting safety, wages or quality of service) then good. Lets not get too precious about what we do... but also let us not forget what we do
Cue the sound of stirring Elgar style music!!
To return to the wages thing.. I choose Council guides, because we have to start somewhere... and at least I am able to point to recognised standards and levels (hence the new Levels/Responsibility Grades) and I have to say that since BAJR introduced them there has been only ONE slight grumble! Pensions are difficult (especially on short contracts.. but there are clear guidelines on this including sizee of organisation etc.... As to security... we will just have to wait - though I feel that we will never escape from the wandering digger.. and personally I would not want to... Be a digger for 3-7 years... if you are still a digger then either enjoy it or leave it - cos otherwise you ain't going to be anything other than a digger... and then the choice is yours.
Anyway... time for me to shut up and get back to work!!
BAJR Host