3rd December 2009, 12:40 AM
oxbeast Wrote:You are quite right that it shouldn't be acceptable to support the status quo. There is a line of argument from management which runs something like, 'well, you're lucky to have a job in this industry anyway, it was all so much worse in my day, the developers won't pay more for us anyway'.
My manager recently said ' I can't believe we get paid for what we do'. I told her that I hope you don't say things like that in front of the clients.
Thanks for the welcome oxbeast.
Ahh, the 'managers'. God Bless Them. "Show me the money."
It would be interesting to know how many of them have had time at the coal face because I know not all of them have.
If a manger is as happy as Larry to lie down and take one then I can fully understand how that is accepted by the workforce under them. If that sort of reasoning is taken as the norm by the upper echelon then it is going to take some time to change it. Change it you can though. So, we have a manager, or many managers, saying that they can't believe that they get paid for what they do. Great stuff. He, or they, obviously really don't understand the job in hand. Its a worry.
Ya see there is a thing with these people. Their man management isn't that great because the situations that affect the people they are managing only affects them, in a lot of cases, in the pocket. In those cases they are not fit for purpose and need to be told that. It's a taboo thing to say though.
So where on earth do you all go from here?
Does the construction industry need archaeologists? Perhaps the more pertinent question is, How important is archaeology?
Judging by some of the comments here it appears to me that it isn't important at all. Oh, hang on, they need you people don't they?
So which is it?
If they need you then they have to pay for it. That's it. There's no 'Oh they wont pay that' argument to deal with here. Put it like this. If they need a specialised craftsman, a stonemason say, they will pay the earth. They have no choice. I am not in that particular area but in a similar field. When I turn up to quote and see the ineptitude of those involved my price rises through the roof. That is in a competitive area. I've struggled like hell to provide a living for my family but there is no way I will compromise health and safety or pay fto grab a tender. That is something that the archaeological world has to sort out for itself.
Point number one is that the construction industry has to be educated on what you do and why. That has to be done from the top down without mistake.
If I went to a CEO of a construction firm and explained the experiences and pay that some of you lot are getting there would be hell on a plate, especially if I pushed him on H&S and pay. I have been through this in the early eighties*, there is a way out. You have to get a governing body together that will kick some butt.
On a happier note, most of you seem to be working in the dark ages...
You obviously enjoy history to much.
* If any of you want examples of the construction industry in the early eighties, the comparison with what you are going through now and how things have change then please ask.
BTW, I don't get any where near craft rate on the link provided.