3rd June 2010, 02:53 PM
I certainly think that unionisation is the way forward. Having seen the steady erosion of standards within archaeology - both in relation to the terms of doing a quality job and what people are paid to do it i think a grass roots initiative to rectify the situation is long over due. It is pretty clear that we cannot expect leadership in this direction from those at the higher level of employment within the profession. Competitive tendering has driven wages and standards down in real terms and it is clear that unit owners and management have been complicit in this. While people in these positions may not be in reality living off the fat of the land (nobody in archaeology really does & probably never will), they are still not the individuals who suffer the most from the shaving off of costs here and there. I believe that unionisation holds the solution to the many problems we find in commercial field archaeology. Hopefully with union backing something approaching a career structure with wages reflecting progression and experience through the profession may be achieved. Equally this would possibly also set a bench mark by which jobs are more realistically priced. Equally the worrying trend whereby firms use self employment as a cost cutting exercise (so denying hard won employment rights to temporary staff) and the refusal to pay proper overtime rates will be reversed. My biggest hope is that in such a climate we will develop a real professional integrity, gaining the respect we rightly deserve and being able to do jobs to the standards that many of us know we should be achieving. :face-approve: