>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 >MIME-Version: 1.0 >X-Originating-IP: [160.111.5.134] >Received: from mc4-f26.law16.hotmail.com ([65.54.237.161]) by >mc4-s1.law16.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.5600); Mon, 16 Sep >2002 11:03:17 -0700 >Received: from home.ease.lsoft.com ([209.119.1.31]) by >mc4-f26.law16.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.5600); Mon, 16 >Sep 2002 11:02:38 -0700 >Received: from home (home.ease.lsoft.com) by home.ease.lsoft.com (LSMTP for >Windows NT v1.1b) with SMTP id <[log in to unmask]>; Mon, 16 >Sep 2002 14:02:33 -0400 >Received: from HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM by HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (LISTSERV-TCP/IP > release 1.8e) with spool id 79508786 for >[log in to unmask]; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 14:02:33 -0400 >Received: from hotmail.com (f106.law14.hotmail.com) by home.ease.lsoft.com > (LSMTP for Windows NT v1.1b) with SMTP id ><[log in to unmask]>; Mon, 16 Sep 2002 13:22:25 -0400 >Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; >Mon, 16 Sep 2002 10:22:22 -0700 >Received: from 160.111.5.134 by lw14fd.law14.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP; >Mon, 16 Sep 2002 17:22:21 GMT >Approved-By: [log in to unmask] >X-OriginalArrivalTime: 16 Sep 2002 17:22:22.0022 (UTC) > FILETIME=[9DEB3660:01C25DA5] >Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]> >Sender: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]> >Precedence: list >Return-Path: [log in to unmask] > >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 > > > > > >_________________________________________________________________ >Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. >http://www.hotmail.com > >========================================================= >Important Subscriber Information: > >The Museum-L FAQ file is located at >http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed >information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail >message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should >read "help" (without the quotes). > >If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to >[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff >Museum-L" (without the quotes). 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 :) _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).