This month The Digger and BAJR are launching the Petition for Change. The
petition is aimed at the employers of archaeologists and of other workers in the heritage sector. It draws attention to the lack of career structure and pensions, the long hours and the poor job security that we all know and love. The petition also calls for the Institute for Field Archaeologists (IFA) to increase its minimum pay rate to a level deemed by the European Union necessary to lead a decent life (the ‘European Decency Threshold’) and to expel any of its members that do not comply.

The editors of The Digger said, ‘The idea is that people take the petitions round their workplaces for their colleagues to sign, and then return the sheets to us or to BAJR. We’ll forward them to the IFA. The more people who sign the more impact the petition will have. The petition highlights problems faced by all Heritage workers. Let’s use it as a tool to improve all our lives at work.’

In a recent poll on BAJR 92% of people said that the current IFA recommended minimum pay rate of £215 per week was too low. It would cost the IFA nothing to increase its minimum to a decent level. And yet this change would mean a real improvement to the lives of thousands of low-paid workers in the heritage sector.

The petition will be publicised to the CBA, Rescue, Britarch, APPAG etc. The text of the petition is as follows:

The Institute of Field Archaeologists (IFA) estimate that archaeology contributes £100 million to the economy. Many sites that archaeologists work on yield big profits to developers; some are multi-million pound projects. Yet many archaeologists and other Heritage Sector workers earn less than £13,000 pa, and some earn less than £8,000 pa despite having high practical skills and/or good academic qualifications.

Field archaeologists and Heritage Sector workers also work long hours, sometimes unpaid overtime. Few can afford mortgages. Pension provision and sick pay is often non-existent for those on short contracts. Too many
archaeologists are forced to leave the industry due to poor pay, poor job security and no hope of moving up a career ladder.

In July, a million Unison, GMB and T&G members went on strike for a 6% pay rise for public sector workers. We also demand an end to low pay. With decent wages and career structure comes respect and pride in the profession.

We call on the employers to end poverty pay for archaeologists and others in the Heritage Sector and to introduce a clear and standardised career structure with a recognised work description for each grade.

We also call on the IFA to raise its minimum pay rate to the European Decency Threshold of £280 per week (£7.34 per hour) with immediate effect, and to enforce this by expelling units and unit managers that do not
comply.

click here to dowload a pdf version or here for a rtf format .. print it copy it and get it signed!