Our prosperity’s foundation is precarious
On Thursday they downed tools on a site in Dublin’s Aungier St. In recent months their colleagues working on the Macroom bypass staged a similar protest. They want collective bargaining with the employer, Irish Archaeological Consultancy, which is doing very well for itself on the back of a construction boom.
What’s the big deal about another group of workers looking to improve their lot? The protest by archaeologists is instructive because these people with a professional qualification, doing important cultural, historic and commercial work, are part of the precariat. They are forced by working conditions to live week to week. Their work involves delving into the past but they can do precious little to plan for the future.
