>From: Troy Whitbread <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Unions and Museums
>Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 17:22:21 +0000
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>I worked as a part-time musician for awhile to pay the school bills.  The
>best jobs were "Union Gigs" because they paid so much better than private
>deals. The problems with private deals I experienced ended up costing time
>to sort out (on both sides), which translated into money (time=money). Any
>time there was an opportunity to abuse the private agreement from the
>hiring
>company, it would be abused.
>
>The Union Gigs leveled the field and gave the musicians I worked with a
>living wage, and there were a lot fewer problems and misunderstandings
>because everyone knew the game plan. I think the musician's union also had
>some kind of pay scale for experienced over less experienced musicians.
>Organizations or groups that hired musicians (union or otherwise) typically
>didn't use an HR person to hire them - they went to the union rep, told him
>their requirements, and got a band out of it.
>
>Sorry to those of you pro musicians out there if I'm representing this
>pretty simplified view incorrectly. But I think this illustrates the point,
>IMHO, that Unions can serve a valid purpose if there is a need. Maybe
>someone could make a comparison to organizations that represent highly-paid
>workers such as doctors and lawyers. How do those unions (Medical
>Associations, the Bar?) leverage better pay for their members?
>
>The career paths for becoming a seasoned museum professional seem to follow
>those of doctors and lawyers (i.e. go to school for aeons, eat ramen until
>you get noticed). And yet at some point the path drops off, so that someone
>with years of experience with many organizations has to settle for the same
>pay as someone just starting out. i.e.,(hypothetical), "Wanted: Museum
>curator to handle all operations of small museum, PhD preferred, $25,000 /
>year."
>
>How many postings similar to this have we seen in the past year? Now go
>look
>at lawyer's and doctor's salaries, for comparable responsibility and
>experience. There seems to be a big discrepency between how museums are
>relied upon in many communities (i.e. for tourism), and how they are valued
>-- especially in small communities. I apologize to those small museums I've
>just alienated, because I do love small museums, and I know very well the
>contraints they face.
>
>But based on the above hypothetical salary (and comparable real-life
>offerings), ask yourself this: "Is there a need?"
>
>Troy Whitbread
>
>
>
>
>
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I mostly lurk, but had to add my 2 cents because no one else has voiced this
fact about museum work and why it is notoriously low-paid.  I believe it is
for the same historical reason that a professor of mine stated that most
architects were not well paid (esp. when compared to other professions with
a long mandatory intership period and registration exams).  It is because
historically this profession was filled by gentlemen (read wealthy and of
noble birth, etc) who did that as a "professional" hobby if you will and did
not need or in some cases require payment for their services.

Think of how museum collections began (and of course my perspecitive
primarily relates to fine arts collections). They began out of the
"wunderkabinets" (sic?) of royalty and other notable (and usually somewhat
eccentric!) wealthy nobles.  Again this was done as a "hobby" and as such
the curators/owners of these collections were not compensated for their
efforts.

I bring this up because I believe that this still effects how museum
professionals are viewed and compensated and adds to the charge of
"eliteism" regarding museums.  And in a very real way, it perpetuates the
"type" of person who is best able to pursue a career in museum work; ie.
someone who is wealthy and does not "need" to be compensated for their
efforts.  Yes, you have all given very good suggestions regarding how
someone can make sacrifices to pursue their dreams. All very valid. But who
has the edge, the kid who has a taken a free internship but has to waitress
into the wee hours every night to pay for their living expenses/save for
college or the wealthy kid who is fresh from a nights sleep and a
well-balanced nutritious diet? (I must add this is not to denigrate the
lucky "wealthy" people either; some of the hardest working people I know in
the arts were financially blessed. But then again, not having to worry about
finances every five minutes frees up a lot of brain cells)!

Yes life isn't fair, but if museums truly want diversity than they need to
find a way to address this problem. Perhaps putting more money into employee
"acquisitions" rather than objects? It is an extremely tough situation and
there will always be people who are either willing or able to accept the
situation, thus perpetuating the problem.  I don't know what the solution
is.

discuss amongst yourselves :)

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