14th August 2008, 09:53 PM
Very tricky. Yes, archaeologists should earn more, with comparable pay for comparable responsibility and experience/qualification as in other technical disciplines. The link to LA salaries was always artificial and seemed to be merely an attempt to discourage the worst pay levels (a certain university unit paying experienced diggers as 'casual student assistants', with no holiday or sick pay, for example), The principle is very easy to support. The practice is a lot harder to sort out.
Any increase would have to be incremental and phased, as has been pointed out, people are committed to jobs for which costs have been agreed, rates would need to be agreed and so on. But the big issue is the market place. Like it or not, it exists and little short of revolution will bring it down. Anyone who has tendered for a few jobs will know that the cost put in is effectively a delicate balance of what it will actually cost to do the work and turn enough margin to reinvest/make a profit against what you think anyone else will charge. When there are still (apparently) units wiling to pay £300/week self-employed only, and, more importantly to charge out at that level, there's only going to be one winner in a competitive tendering situation unless you have a very enlightened client or consultant. More regulation as apparently envisaged by the IFA may be the way ahead, but (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the need to be licenced hasn't exactly created a workers' paradise in Ireland.
So far, so depressing, but there are two obvious ways ahead. First is for archaeologists to push the long view of commercial advantage and demonstrate to the wider world how dealing sensitively with heritage issues (sorry) can actually add value (double sorry) to new development and regeneration.
Second, and this is the difficult one, to start respecting ourselves as professionals, by not working for units that won't respect our rights and abilities, and as organisations, not undervaluing our work and driving down everyone else's prices, and refusing to quote for work that is being tendered on what are effectively unfair terms. To report breaches of the law and codes of conduct and to ensure that we actually get on and do something. (straps on tinfoil hard hat and takes cover in monastic dovecote)
Any increase would have to be incremental and phased, as has been pointed out, people are committed to jobs for which costs have been agreed, rates would need to be agreed and so on. But the big issue is the market place. Like it or not, it exists and little short of revolution will bring it down. Anyone who has tendered for a few jobs will know that the cost put in is effectively a delicate balance of what it will actually cost to do the work and turn enough margin to reinvest/make a profit against what you think anyone else will charge. When there are still (apparently) units wiling to pay £300/week self-employed only, and, more importantly to charge out at that level, there's only going to be one winner in a competitive tendering situation unless you have a very enlightened client or consultant. More regulation as apparently envisaged by the IFA may be the way ahead, but (and please correct me if I'm wrong), the need to be licenced hasn't exactly created a workers' paradise in Ireland.
So far, so depressing, but there are two obvious ways ahead. First is for archaeologists to push the long view of commercial advantage and demonstrate to the wider world how dealing sensitively with heritage issues (sorry) can actually add value (double sorry) to new development and regeneration.
Second, and this is the difficult one, to start respecting ourselves as professionals, by not working for units that won't respect our rights and abilities, and as organisations, not undervaluing our work and driving down everyone else's prices, and refusing to quote for work that is being tendered on what are effectively unfair terms. To report breaches of the law and codes of conduct and to ensure that we actually get on and do something. (straps on tinfoil hard hat and takes cover in monastic dovecote)