The ramifications of our
collective failure to effectively oppose the politically inspired introduction
of competitive tendering into archaeology in the late 80's and early 90's.
R
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list of Archaeologists for Global Justice
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jasmina Cenan
Sent: 27 March 2007 12:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: job cuts at the
This is terrible news. I would like to forward this to other UCL
archaeologists
students and staff. Is there someone from Prospect, MOLAS I can speak
or refer
to. Is below a press release? Hopefully we can make clear to Cassidy
that MOLAS
archeologists are not on their own and bombard him with messages
against the
cuts.
Jasmina Cenan
BA Archaeology degree student at UCL
Quoting Umberto Albarella <[log in to unmask]>:
> Dear All,
>
> I have received this and I am passing it on as it is revealing of
the con=
> text in
> which archaeologists operate nowadays. One of the goals of
Archaeologists=
> for
> Global Justice is of course campaigning for the dignity of our
profession=
> and
> against the loss of knowledge and expertise. I believe that this
is not o=
> nly of
> concern for British-based colleagues.
>
> Cheers,
> Umberto
>
>
>
>
> Stop job cuts at MoLAS!
>
> Major redundancies and restructuring have been proposed by
executive
> managers at the
> f
> 13 finds specialists, 8-11 job cuts are proposed, with a further
5-6
> redundancies in MoLAS=92s 15-strong management team. The job
losses amoun=
> t
> to a 10% cut in the workforce and mean that vital skills could be
lost
> to the Museum completely. The threatened staff have worked at
MoLAS for
> at least eight years, some for over twenty years.=20
>
> Executive managers, advised by business consultants with no
previous
> experience of archaeology, argue in their redundancy Consultation
> Document that there is a =91decrease in demand=92 or =91demand
does not e=
> xist=92
> for the 13 Post-Roman Finds, Building Material, Animal Bone and
Botany
> Specialists. Yet figures show there is a total of four to five
years=92
> work waiting to be done by the threatened finds specialists. In
addition
> to this, MoLAS is about to start digging major archaeological
sites in
>
> specialists to analyse. Demand for the specialists is set to
increase,
> not fall. Executive managers also argue that the specialists are
not
> =91financially sustainable=92, yet increases in specialist
charge-out rat=
> es
> in April will not be given the chance to take effect before
redundancy
> notices are handed out. The =A3250,000pa the specialists bring
into MoLAS
> from external clients will be put in jeopardy by the cuts and
MoLAS may
> not be able to honour existing commitments.
>
> The redundancies in MoLAS=92s management team don=92t add up
either. Fift=
> een
> posts are threatened but with sixteen posts in a new proposed
management
> structure, executive managers can=92t explain how they have
arrived at a
> figure of 5-6 redundancies. They argue that the new jobs are
> fundamentally different from the current ones. But is the new
=91Post
> Excavation Manager=92 job really that different from the current
=91Proje=
> ct
> Manager (Post Excavation)=92 job, for example? Similarities in the
job
> descriptions between the current and the new jobs suggest that
managers
> will effectively be forced to reapply for their own jobs.=20
>
> The MoLAS website says that specialists =91are at the forefront of
curren=
> t
> research in their fields and command international reputations=92
and
> =91offer a comprehensive range of services that combine
reliability and
> cost-effectiveness with academic excellence.=92 The management
team has
> worked on hundreds of projects in
> the proposed Olympics sites. The work of specialists and
management has
> helped ensure MoLAS is one of the leading archaeological units in
the
> country and one of the foremost archaeological publishers in
> loss of their skills will damage not only MoLAS and the Museum,
but
> British archaeology and heritage too. =20
>
> In 1998, MoLAS staff were told by executive managers to accept
cuts in
> annual leave and other conditions to =91secure the long-term future=92
of
> specialists and make MoLAS =91more competitive=92. But it didn=92t
work =96
> MoLAS is in trouble again. The current redundancy proposals will
also
> fail to improve MoLAS=92s long term financial viability because
they too
> ignore the underlying problem =96 that, just like other
archaeological
> units, MoLAS does not charge clients enough in the cut-throat
> archaeological market.=20
>
> There is an alternative. Prospect is currently negotiating with
> employers=92 organisation SCAUM to mitigate the affect of the
cut-throat
> market. The idea is that archaeological units agree to work
together to
> make improvements that benefit everyone rather than undercutting
each
> other. Instead of axing skills, executive managers should be using
> MoLAS=92s dominance of the
> archaeologists=92 professional body the IFA in backing
Prospect=92s
> initiative. They should be investing in specialists and managers,
not
> making job cuts.
>
> What you can do: write to Michael Cassidy, Chairman of Museum of
London
> Board of Governors, Members' Room,
> 2EJ, [log in to unmask]
> telling him to stop the job cuts.=20
>
>
> --=20
> Umberto Albarella
> Department of Archaeology
>
> Northgate House
>
>
>
> Telephone: (+) 44 (0) 114 22 22 943=20
> Fax: (+) 44 (0) 114 27 22 563=20
> http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/staff/albarella.html
> For Archaeologists for Global Justice (AGJ) see:
> http://www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/global-justice.html
>
> "There is no way to peace. Peace IS the way".
>
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