11th December 2009, 07:50 PM
the invisible man Wrote:I don't really follow your arguments about construction site staff. Yes I know the CSCS card is absurdly simple, I have one myself, but that is not all you need. Sure you don't need anything other than muscle to be a labourer, but other trades all require varying degrees (pardon the pun!) of training and/or qulaification and/or experience. To be honest we must have been on very different construction sites in recent decades, iny experience there are very few traditional labourers on site these days.
However, I'm not trying to suggest that everyone on site has a degree or an academic background as do most (not all) archaeologists. I (and others) are comparing archaeological wages with those in construction because commercial archaeology is part of the construction industry.
Think of a larger construction firm as a site management company. Most of the larger construction firms only employ traditional labourers, the skilled workforce are normally sub contractors who themselves have very little use for labourers, including myself. Now then, I am not saying that all labourers are uneducated but the fact remains that some are and regardless of this they still get the same pay as those around them. The fact is the traditional labourer can more than hold his wage in comparison to a field archaeologist if he plays his cards right. I dread to think what a fully trained tradesman earns let alone a craftsman in comparison to a field archaeologist. I know of some labourers who rely on colours on signs, some who have to get their colleagues to check their wage docket. They still get paid very very well.
That's all of our gripes I think. I don't understand why there are some FA's who readily accept this as 'this is the way it has always been.' I think it is time for change as I find this unacceptable and judging from some of the posts above I see there are lots of people who think likewise. Getting there is a different beast though.
the invisible man Wrote:I'm not sure who you are saying you can take for a ride at will. I don't know what your position in construction was/is, but I have to say that I find this unlikely.
Of course you find it unlikely. Lets just say I work on the renovation side of things, a specialised area within that field. I have always found it quite funny that when managers on site find out my GSCS card is gold, they always act a bit funny. Makes me smile anyway.
Architects produce specifications for me. I rarely follow them. If they are nice too me or I find they are a sociable person I normally tell them and explain why. If they are not, normally because I turn up for meetings in my glad rags and they disapprove, I take them for a ride and complete the contract as I see fit. I have always got paid and used again.
I can give examples of heritage management not having one clue on how to go about the protection of listed buildings but to what end? Reading back what I have just printed can read bad enough as it is and that isn't how I really wanted it all to come over.
:face-plain: