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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