4th April 2006, 05:12 PM
1man, it is in the nature of waged labour that the individual appears to be 'free' and has the illusion of choice, but the reality of low pay is that it does force people to work longer hours whenever possible to get by. People (the sane ones) only want overtime because they aren't being paid enough in the first place.
The fact that the government included the option to opt out of the Working Time Directive (with certain conditions) was arecognition that many people are not paid enough. Certain professions are also exempted from the provisions of the Directive such as security work. Ostensibly this is because long hours are needed for the nature of the job; in reality it is because the job is so horrendously low paid that nobody would do it unless they could work long hours to bring the money in.
Working long hours (especially on site) is extremely bad for the health. The fact that some people 'choose' to do it should not be celebrated, but should be seen as a fitting comment on the low wages in archaeology (as well as other sectors of the economy).
The fact that the government included the option to opt out of the Working Time Directive (with certain conditions) was arecognition that many people are not paid enough. Certain professions are also exempted from the provisions of the Directive such as security work. Ostensibly this is because long hours are needed for the nature of the job; in reality it is because the job is so horrendously low paid that nobody would do it unless they could work long hours to bring the money in.
Working long hours (especially on site) is extremely bad for the health. The fact that some people 'choose' to do it should not be celebrated, but should be seen as a fitting comment on the low wages in archaeology (as well as other sectors of the economy).