Petition for Change - Support floods in..

Support for the Petition for Change has been flooding into The Digger and BAJR.
The petition was launched in the last issue of The Digger and calls for an end to
poverty pay and the introduction of a decent career structure for archaeologists
and others in the Heritage Sector. The petition demands that the Institute of Field
Archaeologists (IFA) raise its minimum recommended pay rate to the European
Decency Threshold of £280 per week (£7.34 per hour), and to enforce this by
expelling units and unit managers who do not comply.

The petition has won the support of archaeologists from Southampton, Liverpool, Sunderland, Hull, Gateshead, Norfolk, Newcastle, Bath, Scotland, Tayside, Swindon, York, Middlesex, Durham, Sheffield, London, Birmingham, King's Lynn, Lincoln, Wales, Cambridge, Canterbury, East Yorkshire, Kent, Oxford, Bristol, Worcestershire, Leeds, Cumbria, Essex, Twickenham, and Tyne and Wear.
There has been support from members of Unison, Prospect and NATFE. Diggers
from units big and small have sent their support, as have university archaeology
departments and consultancies.

The Branch Secretary of the Archaeologists Branch of Prospect, Jayne Gidlow, has said that she supports the petition in a personal capacity. Stephen Cheshire is promoting the petition on his website for illustrators. On BAJR over 400 people have pledged their support in an online poll.

So keep those petitions coming in! Have you signed yet?

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.

Download the petition from BAJR:

as a rtf document here:
or a pdf document here: