20th April 2010, 05:05 PM
the invisible man Wrote:But surely there is a wider issue. In principle, (unlikely to happen, granted) more employers could start cranking up what is effectively the basic working week and it more or less becomes "forced" when there is no alternative means to support yourself. Hence the working hours directive. It seems to me that people have fought long and hard for many years to gradually improve conditions (I'm talking all employed people here, not just archaeology) and I'm uneasy at it all being thrown away.
For all the talk it hasn't worked in the construction industry so why should it work in commercial field archaeology (which, horror of horrors, is effectively a limb of the construction industry), or indeed agriculture, forestry etc etc? It's seasonal work, you grab as many hours as you can when you can, long hours during the summer, none at all when its p***ing with rain/snowing/dark during the winter. Ever wondered why pipeline jobs seem to turn up around this time every year around about when it's possible to work 7-7 again? 9-5's for office workers I'm afraid