“The second group is being paid the equivalent of the average factory worker plus the right to select four hundred hectares of farmland or eight hundred of ranchland after they complete their two-year commitment. They also receive a premium based on the difficulty of the job. Construction workers receive a twenty percent premium, miners, a thirty percent premium, fifty if they’re working in space.
“The third group is being paid the same salary that they would have earned in Delphi City, with the addition of free housing for the first two years.”
“Hey, mining isn’t more difficult than construction!”
“It’s not only more difficult, it’s more dangerous,” Paul said. “If you don’t believe me, feel free to spend a day on that asteroid out there.”
“Ahem,” Cer Bachmann coughed to stanch the argument. “Thank you. That is what I surmised based on my contracts as well as my discussions with my group, but I thought it was important that everyone know that. I think we all would like some time to talk with our constituents about that before we discuss wages. Might I propose that we address some of the other issues first? Then we can break for lunch. We’ll meet with our constituents, who are even now discussing the implications of your information. Then after a two-hour break for lunch, we can reconvene.”
“I’m happy to proceed under those terms,” Marc said.
Cer Bachmann looked around the table to see if the other delegates were in agreement. Apparently, they had arranged some form of voting since each delegate tapped the table in front of them, and Cer Bachmann nodded and turned back to Marc.
“We’re also in agreement,” she said. “Now, I’ll start on our list. Cer Barone will start.”
“I’m representing some of the farmers,” Cer Barone said; he had a distinctly Italian accent that made him a bit difficult to understand. “We can understand that we don’t have the equipment to have everyone run their own farm yet, but we are concerned about the community farms and how they will impact our farms once we start them.”
“First, I want to thank you for your understanding about the equipment,” Marc said. “Now to the point about the community farms. Their purpose is to get us to self-sufficiency on food as soon as possible, and then to provide insurance that we have a balanced crop once we shift to private farming.”
“But how will we get a fair price for our goods if the community farms are already providing what the community needs?” Cer Barone asked.
“I’m not sure I understand your point,” Marc said as he quickly typed some requests to ADI.
“Why would anyone buy our goods if the community farm is already supplying them, and you have very cheap labor?”
“Ah, I see. Let me make this proposal,” Marc said. “The produce from the community farms will only be used to fill in the gaps that cannot be met by the private farms.”
“What will you do with all your production?”
“We will store it, canning and preserving it for when the supply from the private farms might run out.”
“But, what’s to stop you from releasing that supply when we want to raise prices and withhold our produce until the price goes up?”
Marc chuckled. “I see. I’ll assure you that we will not use the production from the community farms unless the wellbeing of the colony is threatened.”
Cer Barone nodded to Cer Bachmann. “We’ll work on wording for that agreement, but I think we can live with that commitment,” she said. She nodded to Cer Barone, indicating he was free to bring up the other issue that he wanted to discuss.
“We would also like to know why we cannot start working our land now. We could work on the weekends and evenings to make a better life for our family and help the colony become established faster.”
Marc paused for a moment to think. “The problem with that is it would require us to allocate the land now. The process calls for each of you to earn points by your good work in order to increase your chance of being one of the first ones to select your land. As you know, we’ll be conducting a lottery system to set the order of choosing the land. And your record in the colony will determine how many chances you have to be the next to select. I do not know of another fair way to allocate who gets to choose first.”
“I see, but it looks like a lost opportunity,” Cer Barone said. “We could increase the diversity of food available as well as increase the supply.”
“What about community allotments,” Samantha suggested.
“Please explain.”
“Each family could be allotted a certain amount of land that they would be able to work on their own time. Like a large garden. When they move to their farm, the land will revert back to the community. But it would allow even our town people to grow something, or just have a piece of land they can go play on,” Samantha explained.
There was a flurry of activity as the delegates were listening to their Comms and tallying the response. Apparently, the idea resonated with a lot of the colonists who were listening. It took twenty minutes before the exchange among the colonists settled down.
“We have overwhelming consensus on that idea,” Cer Bachmann said. “There are two questions that have been asked. First, could families combine their allotments to make a bigger piece of land? Some of our town’s people would like to benefit, but don’t feel skilled enough to actually farm the land.”
“I wouldn’t have a problem with that,” Marc said.
“And second, would there be a way for them to utilize the farm equipment from the community farm when it is not in use?”
“I believe we can come up with a process for that. And I’m thinking of two thousand square meters for the land. That’s one-half acre per family.”
“That brings up another point.
