There is a very good reason for paying staff on CRM projects which is nothing
to do with kindness- a little thing called the law. I suspect that the US is
no different to the UK in that if you don't pay contracted workers you get
sued, the baliffs called and you become a bankrupt. Competitive tendering as
we call it in the UK will always work towards lowest quality and encourage the
unethical "cowboys" (as we call them in the UK) unless it is rigourously
opposed by those setting everyday standards- SHO's in the states and
"curators" in the UK.
paul courtney, leicester, Uk
John Straeck wrote
I suspect that you are correct - we all do have some form of bottom line.
As I wote, I think ethics are usually high in CRM - perhaps often higher
than in academia in some ways. Fundamentally, however, academia and CRM
are charged with different things and operate in different ways because of
their organization. In Academia we are not often as concerned about paying
our crews because we have the backing of an insititution. There is a
greater distance between money into the system and money out of the system.
SOme of us have even had the luxury of having our research supported by an
institution so that there was very little connection between money in and
money out.
In CRM, though, it has been my experience that there is often great concern
over paying crew (and rightly so!) and meeting expenses. There is a more
tangible connection between the cost of a project and the amount charged
for a contract. I have seen owners of small companies suffer personally
because they suffered unexpected expenses and could not pay themselves, but
they tried their darndest to pay crew. In these situations ethics must be
and, as I said, usually high, because one is tempted to cut corners. Most
don't, a few do.
My real gripe with CRM is not the work but the bidding market. CRM folks
are frequently underpaid and overworked in this market. I don't buy all of
the stuff about the market supporting some sort of ideal price for work.
People will pay less for archaeology than for other things because of
perceptions about what archaeology is and how important it is.
Consequently, it can be difficult to make a good living or, maybe more
accurately, to be paid on par with other service professionals. I suspect
that if anything is to blame for much of the pressure on archaeological
ethics in CRM it is this sort of thing.
cheers - john
John P. Staeck Heart, Faith, and Skill,
Anthropology Program With these we shall
Luther College meet the world and vanquish
Decorah, IA 52101 those who would unjustly
[log in to unmask] oppose us.
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