9th March 2006, 09:42 PM
Thanks Tile Man,
I agree with much of what you say, but mainly the early bits! In the spirit of debate here's where I disagree (and this is a far from complete set of ideas too):
5) Some field units in the UK pay far in advance of the current IFA minimums without it seeming to have much effect on their competitiveness. I know because I work for one and know of others through hearsay. I seem to remember a suggestion a while back that RAOs actually pay less than non-RAOs on average. I can't prove that, but seems supposrted by anecdote. Therefore, I don't agree that all or most archaeological employers need to raise their wages together, although that would be desirable.
6) There is no reason why wages must go up gradually rather than suddenly. I seem to remember a scandal a few years back when NHS laboratory staff were being paid ludicrously small wages (about what an archie gets paid!), and their wages were raised dramatically and suddenly following a media campaign. I realise that the analogy doesn't hold good in detail, but it shows that there is nothing in the laws of nature or society that precludes sudden, dramatic wage rises.
7) The RAO scheme should be used to raise wages for several reasons, a) it is good for the profession, and thats what the IFA is about furthering, b) they act at present as a brake on wages (see point 5) as there is no incentive at all for an RAO to raise its wages much above the minimums, and c) it is the nearest we have to a forum of all archaeological employers - it is best placed to set the benchmark wages.
:face-thinks: No, no, no! If all RAOs were to raise their wages dramatically then that would pressurise non-RAOs to do so also to attract staff. Who would you rather work for in that scenario?
Besides which, to reverse an argument used by several members of this board, any client employing an RAO would know that they were paying for quality work with certain assurances about the quality of service they would expect. They would be willing to pay extra for the privilege if thats what it meant in the short term.
10) Nobody wants the IFA to take the place of a trade union. However, miserly pay, lack of holiday/sick pay, unpaid overtime, staff having to use their own cars without reimbursement etc, etc damages the profession of archaeology. The IFA is supposed to further the interests of the profession. My point is that pay is not a sectional interest.
11) I agree about trade unions, but not if this means that the responsibility for low pay be shifted to their shoulders. In the present trade union climate in archaeology, the IFA is better placed to do something constructive on the issue.
It stands to reason, if the IFA were to really achieve something about pay they wouldn't have to worry about membership - I (and I suspect many many others) would be queueing up to hand over our ?100s!
I agree with much of what you say, but mainly the early bits! In the spirit of debate here's where I disagree (and this is a far from complete set of ideas too):
5) Some field units in the UK pay far in advance of the current IFA minimums without it seeming to have much effect on their competitiveness. I know because I work for one and know of others through hearsay. I seem to remember a suggestion a while back that RAOs actually pay less than non-RAOs on average. I can't prove that, but seems supposrted by anecdote. Therefore, I don't agree that all or most archaeological employers need to raise their wages together, although that would be desirable.
6) There is no reason why wages must go up gradually rather than suddenly. I seem to remember a scandal a few years back when NHS laboratory staff were being paid ludicrously small wages (about what an archie gets paid!), and their wages were raised dramatically and suddenly following a media campaign. I realise that the analogy doesn't hold good in detail, but it shows that there is nothing in the laws of nature or society that precludes sudden, dramatic wage rises.
7) The RAO scheme should be used to raise wages for several reasons, a) it is good for the profession, and thats what the IFA is about furthering, b) they act at present as a brake on wages (see point 5) as there is no incentive at all for an RAO to raise its wages much above the minimums, and c) it is the nearest we have to a forum of all archaeological employers - it is best placed to set the benchmark wages.
:face-thinks: No, no, no! If all RAOs were to raise their wages dramatically then that would pressurise non-RAOs to do so also to attract staff. Who would you rather work for in that scenario?
Besides which, to reverse an argument used by several members of this board, any client employing an RAO would know that they were paying for quality work with certain assurances about the quality of service they would expect. They would be willing to pay extra for the privilege if thats what it meant in the short term.
10) Nobody wants the IFA to take the place of a trade union. However, miserly pay, lack of holiday/sick pay, unpaid overtime, staff having to use their own cars without reimbursement etc, etc damages the profession of archaeology. The IFA is supposed to further the interests of the profession. My point is that pay is not a sectional interest.
11) I agree about trade unions, but not if this means that the responsibility for low pay be shifted to their shoulders. In the present trade union climate in archaeology, the IFA is better placed to do something constructive on the issue.
It stands to reason, if the IFA were to really achieve something about pay they wouldn't have to worry about membership - I (and I suspect many many others) would be queueing up to hand over our ?100s!