6th February 2012, 08:09 PM
David,
good to see the BAJR grades going up, I agree that times are still tough and a much larger increase would have been difficult to acheive. It is good that with the 5.2% increase to IfA minima that those minima are also finally on the increase. We need to keep momentum this year towards decent wage levels, we've a long way to go, but with both the IfA and BAJR rates rising again we are on the way again...
To my mind one of the key reasons that a larger increase would have been hard for many companies is that there are still too many employers keeping down wages and paying right down at the IfA minima. That is why a decent increase in IfA minima was so important this year, and will be for the next few years.
I agree with P Prentice's comments about marking the difference between the better employers, and the worse. One of the key aims of the recommendations in the DF away work and travel report (http://www.archaeologists.net/sites/defa...report.pdf) is to get information on the full range of conditions and wages out in the open, we can then all know what we are going to get, and can compare employers.
Many unit heads and managers are livid at the fact that their competitors pay less, or don't pay travel or accommodation. By opening up the area of away work and travel we can hopefully applaud those who are trying to do the right thing, and vilify those that are letting us all down. Look at the employee scenarios in our report (section 11) to see the real difference travel pay and subs can make to your income. That's why we have the idea of a 'compare the units.com' type website: just as you can compare electricity suppliers to see the best deal, why shouldn't you be able to see that Unit A pays travel whilst Unit B pays none....The DF looks forward to any feedback on the report, the recommendations and any related topics -there's a thread on BAJR here, use our FB page, or just email us at diggers@archaeologists.net.
I'll always support a measure to improve the lot of field archaeologists, and look forward to the day when we have a decent structured career that is financially sustainable from the start to the finish, this is another step on the way,
Chiz
good to see the BAJR grades going up, I agree that times are still tough and a much larger increase would have been difficult to acheive. It is good that with the 5.2% increase to IfA minima that those minima are also finally on the increase. We need to keep momentum this year towards decent wage levels, we've a long way to go, but with both the IfA and BAJR rates rising again we are on the way again...
To my mind one of the key reasons that a larger increase would have been hard for many companies is that there are still too many employers keeping down wages and paying right down at the IfA minima. That is why a decent increase in IfA minima was so important this year, and will be for the next few years.
I agree with P Prentice's comments about marking the difference between the better employers, and the worse. One of the key aims of the recommendations in the DF away work and travel report (http://www.archaeologists.net/sites/defa...report.pdf) is to get information on the full range of conditions and wages out in the open, we can then all know what we are going to get, and can compare employers.
Many unit heads and managers are livid at the fact that their competitors pay less, or don't pay travel or accommodation. By opening up the area of away work and travel we can hopefully applaud those who are trying to do the right thing, and vilify those that are letting us all down. Look at the employee scenarios in our report (section 11) to see the real difference travel pay and subs can make to your income. That's why we have the idea of a 'compare the units.com' type website: just as you can compare electricity suppliers to see the best deal, why shouldn't you be able to see that Unit A pays travel whilst Unit B pays none....The DF looks forward to any feedback on the report, the recommendations and any related topics -there's a thread on BAJR here, use our FB page, or just email us at diggers@archaeologists.net.
I'll always support a measure to improve the lot of field archaeologists, and look forward to the day when we have a decent structured career that is financially sustainable from the start to the finish, this is another step on the way,
Chiz