Unionizing American Archaeology

Why I am asking, by the way 🏺

Does anyone know if Chronicle Heritage has crews/staff in Saudi Arabia right now??? 🏺

‘Are you tough enough?’: Rethinking the safety, culture and care of archaeologists in the field « Archaeology# « Cambridge Core Blog From the old ‘Cowboys of Science’ adage to swashbuckling fictional characters like Indiana Jones and Lara Croft, the perception that fieldwork, and archaeology generally, is a job for tough people per...

In a recent Cambridge Core blog, Marie Matsuda and Sarah Simeonoff draw on experiences from archeological fieldwork to argue that these stories, “paint a picture of the culture of archaeology, in which field archeologists can feel isolated and unsafe.”
Read more: www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

Trainsong Park cleanup advances without 'definitive' J.H. Baxter link Parts of the Eugene city park are fenced off because of dioxin contamination. The chemical is also found at the nearby J.H. Baxter Superfund site, but state regulators say the source of the park’s pol...

Great local news story from Eugene, OR that incorporates findings from a CRM desktop review into reporting on environmental contamination 🏺

National media should really be covering the fact thay every major school, museum, and arts institution in the Twin Cities, and hundreds of local businesses are closed tomorrow to protest federal occupation.

Nothing like this at this scale has happened anywhere in America anytime in living memory.

Canada has too few professional archeologists, and that has economic consequences Protecting heritage in Canada requires training more archeologists and equipping them with the tools and education to do so.

Many of these issues apply to the US CRM/HRM industry.

As an aside, given these realities, it's unfortunate SFU has let their HRM MA program lapse. 🏺

theconversation.com/canada-has-t...

Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.

Washington approves over 99% of archaeological permits, records show

As tribes struggle to protect their heritage, the nation’s leading state archaeologist says she lacks the authority to to stop development projects.

Israel preparing largest ever ‘archeological cleansing’ in West Bank Subordinating scientific value to colonial expansion, Israeli archeologists are putting up no resistance as the state moves to expropriate swaths of Sebastia.

Israel preparing largest ever act of ‘archeological cleansing’ in West Bank

Subordinating scientific value to colonial expansion, Israeli archeologists are putting up no resistance as the state moves to expropriate swaths of Sebastia.

www.972mag.com/sebastia-arc...

Screenshot of an Instagram post by @conflictwire. The post includes an aerial photo showing the areas of Israeli control in Gaza and the following text: "On Nov. 11, US media reported that the Trump administration was preparing to implement a plan that would create "Alternate Safe Communities" in IDF-controlled areas of Gaza east of the Yellow Line, with a pilot site set to be built in Rafah, southern Gaza. Basic services would be provided as well as temporary housing for approximately 25,000 people, vetted by Israeli intelligence to filter out Hamas members. The US State Department awarded Tetra Tech with a contract to build the first settlement. So what? This is consistent with Israel's efforts to undermine the Hamas movement as a governing body of the Gaza Strip by establishing parallel, competing structures and is in line with our previous assessment that Tel Aviv likely hopes to expand the influence of various anti-Hamas armed groups into Hamas-controlled territory and undermine its status as governing authority in a divided Gaza Strip. This new reporting shows it intends to push peo leave the unsafe areas towards ones under nominal IDF control being rebuilt.

TetraTech, an engineering consulting firm with extensive cultural resource management contracts across the U.S., has been awarded a contract to build an IDF-controlled settlement in Gaza...The entanglement between genocidal powers and the American CRM industry is a travesty 🏺

GeopolNews on Instagram: "Those are visuals for excerpts of our latest update on the Middle East. Let us know what you think in the comments." 39 likes, 0 comments - geopolnews.2 on November 27, 2025: "Those are visuals for excerpts of our latest update on the Middle East. Let us know what you think in the comments.".

Link to the original post: www.instagram.com/p/DRkWCcpiI4...

Screenshot of an Instagram post by @conflictwire. The post includes an aerial photo showing the areas of Israeli control in Gaza and the following text: "On Nov. 11, US media reported that the Trump administration was preparing to implement a plan that would create "Alternate Safe Communities" in IDF-controlled areas of Gaza east of the Yellow Line, with a pilot site set to be built in Rafah, southern Gaza. Basic services would be provided as well as temporary housing for approximately 25,000 people, vetted by Israeli intelligence to filter out Hamas members. The US State Department awarded Tetra Tech with a contract to build the first settlement. So what? This is consistent with Israel's efforts to undermine the Hamas movement as a governing body of the Gaza Strip by establishing parallel, competing structures and is in line with our previous assessment that Tel Aviv likely hopes to expand the influence of various anti-Hamas armed groups into Hamas-controlled territory and undermine its status as governing authority in a divided Gaza Strip. This new reporting shows it intends to push peo leave the unsafe areas towards ones under nominal IDF control being rebuilt.

TetraTech, an engineering consulting firm with extensive cultural resource management contracts across the U.S., has been awarded a contract to build an IDF-controlled settlement in Gaza...The entanglement between genocidal powers and the American CRM industry is a travesty 🏺

A graphic with a photo of a spooky tree in the background. There is an orange jack o'lantern in the center of the image with a black sabo cat hissing in front of it. Green text at the top of the image reads "bosses can't scare us"

Give your bosses a fright! Join a union!

Also, AECOM is heavily involved in cultural heritage projects around the globe. Their credibility as trustworthy partners in preserving cultural heritage is about to absolutely crater.

ICYMI 🏺

Two things everybody’s missing about the Riyadh Comedy Festival.

Opinion | The moment I knew the world would try to move on from Jamal Khashoggi I could see it coming at Time’s 2018 Person of the Year celebration.

The Saudi government murdered Jamal Khashoggi seven years ago today. His editor @karenattiah.bsky.social wrote this two years ago.

🏺

White text on Black background. Statement on American Cultural Resource Management Companies and Saudi Arabia In recent days, the news of comedians accepting money from the government of Saudi Arabia to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival has cast a spotlight on the ethics surrounding business ties to a government with a documented history of human rights abuses including slavery, the murder of journalists, and financial support of terrorism. While the current media cycle focuses on the involvement of celebrity comedians, we take this opportunity to condemn the lesser known, but no less unethical, business relationships between the American cultural resource management industry and the government of Saudi Arabia. Namely, Chronicle Heritage, AECOM, and WSP each have extensive contracts with the Saudi government, with Chronicle Heritage specifically providing archaeological services to the Saudi government through the Royal Commission for Al-Ula to support the development of their cultural tourism industry. These business entanglements are especially troubling as they directly support the advancement of development projects that will almost certainly be carried out by exploited slave laborers, as is the case with countless projects sponsored by the Saudi government. As a collective of cultural resource management professionals organizing for better labor conditions for archaeological technicians in the United States, Unionizing American Archaeology stands in solidarity with exploited workers around the globe, and strongly condemns the participation of American CRM companies in Saudi government development projects. Archaeological technicians who work for multiple companies on a contract basis are in a unique position to take a stand against this massive ethical violation by refusing employment offers from companies with business relationships with the Saudi government. We urge archaeological technicians to refuse work with Chronicle Heritage, AECOM, WSP, and an…

Statement on American Cultural Resource Management Companies and Saudi Arabia

A black outline map of the continental United States. The map is titled "Join a union, join the MOVEMENT" and subtitled " CRM Union Elections...so far!" 4 states are colored in, which represent the states where CRM union elections have been held. Each state is labeled with a text box with an arrow pointing to a locator pin at the city where the election was held. The text boxes read: Salt Lake City, UT March 2024 Archaeologists at SWCA Environmental Consultants vote to join Teamsters Local 222 Denver, CO July 2025 Archaeologists at SWCA Environmental Consultants vote to join Teamsters Local 455 Pittsburgh, PA* January 2025 Archaeologists at SWCA Environmental Consultants vote to join Teamsters Local 341 *Election held, ballot tally pending Frederick, MD June 2024 Archaeologists at Goodwin & Associates vote to join Teamsters Local 992

Archaeological field technicians are long overdue for a union and the time to organize is NOW! If you're a field tech in CRM and interested in organizing your workplace, let us know and we can help connect you with the resources to get started!

Workers at two popular California national parks are unionizing Facing waves of cuts to national park workforces and programs, federal lands workers in California voted to join a national union of government employees.

Facing waves of cuts to national park workforces and programs, federal lands workers in California voted to join a national union of government employees.

US federalization of Labor Day was intentionally designed to disconnect the day from international Labor Day (May 1st). To weaken international solidarity and US worker consciousness about transnational labor power.

Best of "The Underground" From 1993 to 1995, The Underground was a zine written by and for people who lived in motels- archaeological field technicians. The Underground functioned as a community space in a pre-internet age by providing a way for archaeological workers to widely discuss both the positive and negative aspects of the CRM industry and of the field as a whole. Its role as a trusted venue for honestly reporting personal accounts of the poor labor conditions in field archaeology makes it an invaluable archive covering a significant period in the history of unions in CRM, as well as an intimate lens into the experiences of field techs 30 years ago... Ask yourself why they sound so familiar.

Why zines? Because archaeological field techs have been using zines to discuss labor issues in cultural resource management since the 90s! 🏺

Digital image of two light blue stick figures centered on a light gray background. They are holding shovels with a speech bubble above one of them indicating they are talking to each other. White text above them reads, "it starts with a conversation" and white text below them reads, "talk to your coworkers!"

Digital image with white text written over multiple faded blue speech bubble graphics on a light gray background. Text at the top of the image is written on a blue title banner that reads, "Start A Conversation" and the white text over the speech bubbles reads, "Bosses want you to believe that talking about wages and other benefits will lead to tension, but the truth is being transparent with your coworkers builds solidarity!"

There's no such thing as a union of one, so start talking to your coworkers and build solidarity in the workplace!

Graphic with a green clip art image of two hands shaking on a light gray background with white text above it reading "Find your allies"

Graphic with white text over a light green image of 3 stick figures standing with their arms around each other. The top of the image has a dark green title banner with white text that reads, "Find your allies" The text over the image reads "if you're thinking about organizing, chances are you aren't the only one. Organizing takes work, and there is strength in numbers, so finding other ready to put in the time is key"

Once you get the conversation started, it's important to identify other people in your workplace who can commit to helping you organize! 1/3

Mutual Aid Network Launching a Mutual Aid Network for Historic Preservation and Cultural Resources Workers We're Coming Together The past year has brought seismic shifts in the historic preservation community. Across th...

Check out this new mutual aid network for people working in historic preservation and cultural resources! 🏺 We're all stronger together!

🏺🪏

A black outline map of the continental United States. The map is titled "Join a union, join the MOVEMENT" and subtitled " CRM Union Elections...so far!" 4 states are colored in, which represent the states where CRM union elections have been held. Each state is labeled with a text box with an arrow pointing to a locator pin at the city where the election was held. The text boxes read: Salt Lake City, UT March 2024 Archaeologists at SWCA Environmental Consultants vote to join Teamsters Local 222 Denver, CO July 2025 Archaeologists at SWCA Environmental Consultants vote to join Teamsters Local 455 Pittsburgh, PA* January 2025 Archaeologists at SWCA Environmental Consultants vote to join Teamsters Local 341 *Election held, ballot tally pending Frederick, MD June 2024 Archaeologists at Goodwin & Associates vote to join Teamsters Local 992

Archaeological field technicians are long overdue for a union and the time to organize is NOW! If you're a field tech in CRM and interested in organizing your workplace, let us know and we can help connect you with the resources to get started!

Screenshot of an email. Subject line reads: [ShovelBums] Archaeological Field Technician Opportunity in Ligonier, PA - The Markosky Engineering Group Inc. Email reads: June 25 To: ShovelBums@groups.io Please post: Job Description: Archaeological Tec nician - Hourly rate: $13.00-20.00 FSA Status: Non-exempt Feports to: Principal Investigator/Archaeological Coup Leader (directly to Field Cupervisor/Field Director when in the field Job Summary: Archaeological Technicians provide general archaeological support with fieldwork, lab work, inventorying, and curation. If their training allows, assist with artifact identification, or other specialization.

Screenshot of an email. Subject line reads: EXT: [ShovelBums] (Wages corrected) Archaeological Field Technician Opportunity in Ligonier, PA - The Markosky Engineering Group Email reads: to ShovelBums [Edited Message Follows] [Reason: Salary updated to $21-23/hr] Job Description: Archaeological Technician - Hourly rate: $21-23/hr

This is what companies wish they could get away with but we won't let them!!
A recent job posting on shovelbums was retracted and reposted after receiving backlash for trying to offer $13/hr for a tech position (a living wage in Pennsylvania is estimated to be $22.91/hr) 🏺

Graphic image with white text over a faded light green image of a social network graph. There is a dark green title banner at the top of the graphic with white text that reads, "Build your network." The white text over the image reads, "The more support you can build amongst your coworkers, the more successful your campaigns will be. Meet your coworkers where they are and you can learn together the ways a union can change your workplace for the better."

Start with a core group of organizers and build out from there! 3/3

Graphic with white text overlain on a faded light green image of street map in the shape of a speech bubble. There is a dark green title banner at the top of the image with white text that reads, "map your workplace." The text over the image reads, "Who talks to who? Who do people turn to for leadership? What motivates your coworkers? What do they value? Understanding your coworkers & how they interact will help you connect w them & build momentum."

Mapping your workplace is an important early step in the organizing process 2/3