The discussion of internship, pay and equity is an interesting one.  Those of
us operating out of a government union environment, but as non union managers
can very easily be accused of talking out of both sides of our mouth.  In any
case here are some of my observations:

1.  A unionized environment is generally beneficial to the work place.  It
places parameters on the actions of all and generally if everyone is
motivated by the best intentions creates dignity and equity.  I realize that
non union shops can also be extremely effective, but I have found that they
are most effective if there is also a union shop around that can set some
guidelines.  In general museum salaries are as depressed in Canada as
elsewhere.  However because we tend to use classifications that come from
planning groups, and research groups they pay is comparatively speaking
reasonable.  I suspect that the presence of a reasonably sized government
(whether federal, provincial or municipal) contingent has caused salaries to
stabilize somewhat.  That is they could be a lot lower.

2.  The general intention in the minds of some is that in the free market one
should try to get as much for as little from the employees.  Some would argue
that the employees mind set is to do as little for as much pay as you can
get.  I have never found this to be true.  I have always attempted to
negotiate fair salaries that were slightly higher than average.  In this way
I could attract the very best, or at least those who were prepared to move to
the Arctic tundra.

3.  We operate an Intern programme with several post secondary institutions
in the Province.  Out practise has been to pay the interns the minimum grid
salary negotiated with the union for equivalent full time positions.  I could
pay a lot less, or I could stretch dollars further by going the "volunteer"
intern route.  And we do have a few of these, but we were approached by
individuals who wanted to work in our environment.

My reasoning was as follows:
1.  I did not want to create strife in the work environment.  Everyone
eventually finds out what everyone makes.  Equal pay should be given for
equal work.
2.  Although a complex set of arrangement would allow us to pay whatever we
could negotiate with the universities to the interns, I did not want to
engage in "union" busting.  Our agreements were negotiated in good faith and
our actions must reflect that good faith.
3.  As a manager and Director of an institution I do not wish to diminish the
importance of the work of the individuals in the institution by precipitating
a downward spiral.
4.  While budgets are diminishing, ours have diminished by over 20% in the
last three years, the amount of work increases, and the dedication of the
workers has also increased.  While we all took an across the board 5%
government cut, I did not think that we should single out interns or entry
level workers for discriminatory treatment.

In the end museum workers will be paid what they think they are worth.  My
motto is "don't undervalue yourselves" and make certain your management also
understands the value you add.  Museums mean nothing without intellectual
capital.

Also just a post script.  There are no secrets as to salaries here.  The
salary ranges are all public information.  Individual salaries are personal
and private information.  But since salary grids have about a $10,000 range
it is easy to figure out what average salaries are.  We can also provide
numbers like average curator salaries, average conservator salaries etc.  I
would however never disclose an individual's salary except those dictated by
law.


Dr. Frits Pannekoek
Director
Historic Sites Service