IFA Fees.

[Digger]

I understand where you'r coming from tile- I just can't afford it any more. Plain and simple answer.

[Real Job]

Tile man, sorry, Im not convinced!

The IFA needs to find a way of proving in the here and now that it can do something tangible about pay and conditions before I will part with ?100 on the promise of jam tomorrow. The perennial cry of the IFA is 'if you don't join, we can't represent you' thereby attempting to shift the blame for their inaction onto others.

But the fact is that I don't believe that they have the will to do what I want them to. I think they act like a trade body, representing the interests of employers by setting the rules for competition within the marketplace (for their members at least). It may be that they do a lot of good in that role (Codes of conduct, Guidelines etc), but it is down to them to convince me that they have any intention of doing something to improve pay and conditions and provide tangible benefits for field staff. I mean more than just words.

I don't have an ideological stance against joining, but only if I am fully convinced of the benefits will I pay a hundred quid for the privilege. And I'm not, so I won't!

A substantially lower fee (perhaps compensated for by a higher fee for those earning a lot - I'm still gob-smacked by ?28,000+!) might mean that more people could join on the off chance that good would come of it.

[Tile man]

Well want about lending support to the diggers forum at ?5 a year?

[kevin wooldridge]

And one shouldn't forget that your IFA membership fee is deductible against income tax so you should qualify for approx 20% back in the form of an income tax rebate. I have my potential rebate added to my tax coding so actually pay less tax each week/month.

[BAJR Host]

Aggree about the Digger Forum... and talking about membership fees is one topic that I wil be covering in one of my talks at the IFA conf. I might look at some maths... nless anyone wants to help me... but look at the accounts ... work out what the bottom line is... and lets tak it from there.

Another day another WSI?

[troll]

I have to mirror some of the sentiment here.I too am not anti-IFA in principle and have said as much elsewhere.I am however, vociferously anti the "FA" bit.As in "....all".
Tile Man... "denegrating what is being done....doing nothing"
I said this before too-when the IFA stands up and actually does something tangible, coherent and frankly, grown-up, I wager that the rest of us will stand up too.When moist thumbs are exposed to the glare of sunshine-progress will have half a chance.

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[destroyer]

Unfortunately I fit in at a bad point on the IFA fee scales and so, despite thinking about it for several years, cannot justify the cost of joining - no matter how often you point out its only a few quid a month it still makes a major dent in my spare bank balance.

If my employer offered to pay it, or at least 50-75%, of the total I'd probably go ahead - and that sums it up, if it was ?30-40 to join their membership would rocket.

[Tile man]

Which brings us back, inevitably, to:
What are you doing to get better pay and conditions for archaeologists?

[troll]

Anything other than line the bank account of an infamously inert promoter.Tiz not just about pay and conditions either.I kind of hope that European law and an informed workforce will go some way towards denting that.

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[Tile man]

Hi Destroyer,
Some employers can and do contribute to IFA membership - some can't because they are beholden to other rules.
As Kevin said earlier it can be deducted against tax
If you feel you can't afford it - why not join the diggers forum. I think that if there was a substantial membership of the forum lobbying the IFA for a different fees structure it may offset some of concerns about not picking up enough new members to offset the costs.