Diggers Forum Newsletter

[BAJR]

The numerous trade unions that represent archaeologists must, I feel, come up with their own initiatives if they wish to 'collectivise' the potential of a mass membership.....and so far it has to be said they seem singularly lacking towards that end.

oh how true... perhaps time for another boot up the jacksy!

Any group is only as powerful as the membership (apart from BAJR where it seems to be in spite of... :face-stir: )

DF are showing themselves to be active, the next step is successful in changing... the next in sustaining it.

[sadie]

Belated reply, have been on leave for half term...

yes, we do think the newsletter should be available firstly to DF members, but the survey results to far have suggested that DF members think we should be concentrating on campaigns, raising pay and conditions for field staff, keeping our presence on Council etc rather than the newsletter itself- which is important but not the nost vital part of our work. So- we are thinking along the lines of sending out an emailed pdf to members, having the previous copy online, and encouraging people to copy it to disseminate it more widely. As Kevin says- it's all about the message itself, how we get the message across is probaby of secondary importance. Do you agree?

[P Prentice]

I don't see why non-members of the IfA should benefit from this without paying their subs. Quite a lot of people manage to be IfA members while on a diggers wage, why they should subsidise those who clearly don't wish to be members you don't make clear. Why should the IfA remove one of the incentives to membership?

Maybe its an ideal vehicle to persuade non members that membership, and therefore collective vantage, is a good idea?

[GPStone]

oh how true... perhaps time for another boot up the jacksy!

I hope there are enough of us who are both willing to administer it and then push an agenda forward through the unions. They seem the most effective means of achieving positive changes in specific areas, especially pay and conditions, we just have to get them working.

I think its worth bearing in mind that unions don't necessarily have to operate as top-down organisational structures. They are at heart representative organisations and they're power and effectiveness is based on subscription. There is nothing stopping members pushing forward the issues if they feel they are not being covered adequately by the union, although different unions operate in different ways and will prioritise different areas and methods.

[chiz]

Hi,
I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying the newsletter. I hope we have the balance of topics about right, we are aiming to continue with the range of articles seen in the current issue. We will have ongoing series of articles such as the 'Tools of the Trade' pieces and 'Training Pages' as well as relevant articles and news on what the DF is doing behind the scenes.
If you have an issue you would like to see covered then get in touch -or write a piece yourself! It doesn’t have to be all about pay and conditions though, we’d like to see articles that are relevant to site archaeologists and our culture, we’re planning articles on the MSC and volunteer schemes of the 70’s and 80’s, as well as on technical issues that affect us out on site.
Future issues will be dedicated to training for commercial archaeology, and the results of the travel and away work survey.

Obviously we’d like to encourage archaeologists to join the DF: the DF is open to all, you don't have to still work on site, although most of us do. It is free if you are in the IfA, and ?10 to everyone else.
I'd also encourage everyone to actively get involved in the work of the DF: there is an active core of members who do most of the work at present and the more helpers we have the more we can achieve. Just by joining us you make our voice louder, but actively getting involved will mean we can do so much more together. Everyone can help immediately by filling out our survey on away work and travel (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/diggersforumtravelsurvey), or by contributing news, dates for the diary, photos or articles for the newsletter.
If you are already a member then please photocopy the newsletter and pin it up in your site hut, there should be copies going out to most commercial employers for their notice boards. Over the next few weeks our web pages will be updated and we will be producing new posters, flyers and membership forms.

Due to a geographically disparate membership and the lack of free time/money of most site workers to attend conferences and day schools, the DF feels that its newsletter is the best medium for all of us to communicate and to provide membership with information in the form of articles and news. As Sadie has said, the printing and distribution costs of this 28 page issue have been very high-that's why it was black and white not the planned colour.
Ultimately the costs of producing a decent sized quarterly newsletter on paper are not sustainable. We have the alternative option of producing the newsletter as an emailed pdf which can be received by all members at essentially no cash cost. Such a newsletter is more flexible and immediate, it can contain hyperlinks so that the newsletter becomes an ongoing gateway to other resources, and it can get to you wherever you are. It also means our limited resources can be spent on other campaigns.

Once each new issue comes out the previous issue will be archived as a pdf on the Diggers' Forum webpage (http://www.archaeologists.net/groups/diggers) so it will be accessible to everyone, hopefully the articles and news will become part of a valuable resource base for members and non-members. You can see an example of a recent article at http://www.archaeologists.net/sites/defa...eather.pdf

So, please read the newsletter, fill out the survey, and join the Diggers' Forum. Without an increased and active membership we won't be able to do much more than tread water on the issues that affect us all.

Chiz

‘The Diggers' Forum (DF) is committed to creating a positive, sustainable and financially viable career for all professional archaeologists at all points in their career. The DF is a Special Interest Group of the Institute for Archaeologists, representing all archaeologists working out on site at whatever grade. Membership of the DF is open to all.’