Manager in AWOL worker case plead guilty, goes into orbit
Testifies that City has a worker morale problem
URBS VALLIS, Sept. 37 - An industrial staff manager pleaded guilty in Tithonia Superior Court Wednesday to helping 22 workers breach their transportation contracts and agreed to serve a 3-annos (5-1/2) contract term aboard the Mars Carousel and in the orbital cargo yards.
Herman Zeiger, a staff manager at the industrial plant and factories between the City and Ares Port, agreed to the contract term shortly after the Court sent the jury into deliberations on Wednesday morning.
The Court brought the jury back to witness Zeiger’s guilty plea and his acceptance of the new contract term in orbit.
“I’ve been here a long time, by Mars standards, and more than a decade Earth time,” Zeiger said in a statement to the Court after confirming his plea. “The City needs to pay attention. It’s not just a few dozen workers. A lot of people are unsatisfied here. They come to Mars and they don’t go anywhere.
“They load cargo. They grow food or fish. They swap out air scrubbers. They get bored with their jobs,” Zeiger said, looking straight at the jury, some of whom nodded their heads in agreement.
“They’re stuck in the City, which is nice enough, but you don’t see much of Mars,” Zeiger said. “The City needs to do something for them. The Labor Council needs to do something for them besides rejecting every contract reduction request.”
The jury had seemed less sympathetic earlier in the hearing, when they had laughed at comments made by Labor Council attorney Lucius O’Brionn.
Zeiger was referred to the Court in August by the Labor Council on allegations that he helped the workers leave the City for posts in Noctis, Ius, Candor and Coprates before their three-annos (5-1/2 year) transportation contracts expired.
Less than two weeks later, Zeiger left the city without notice but was held at the Noctis Grange Hall, about 150 km southwest of Ares Port, when he arrived with a small group of tractors carrying supplies and equipment. (Sept. 3)
O’Brionn argued that by leaving the City without notice and in violation of his Court referral, Zeiger had tacitly admitted his guilt.
Zeiger’s court appointed attorney replied that the manager had finished his own contract term more than three annos earlier and was free to leave the City at any time.
“Not before the Court hearing,” O’Brionn interjected, drawing laughs from the jury and a caution to the jury from the Court.
Case highlights worker morale
At Noctis, Zeiger had been trying to secure a berth on a long-distance supply train that was due to arrive at the Grange Hall within a week and return to Coprates, about 1,600 km from the city and a 50-sol overland trip,” O’Brionn said.
Zeiger testified that he was simply looking for opportunities outside the City and to travel around the Valles Marineris.
“I’ve been in the industrial plant and Ares Port for a long time. It was time for a change,” Zeiger said.
“Right before the Court hearing,” O’Brionn said to smiles from the jury and a stern look from the bench.
O’Brionn noted that the temporary job Zeiger had taken with the cargo tractors to go to Noctis was a significant step down in responsibility from his position as a staff manager as was the position with a long-distance supply train..
“That job’s lot of pressure,” Zeiger said. “I was looking for something less stressful.”
As the City and Mars DevCo had lost the value of the labor the missing workers had pledged, O’Brionn said the Court should consider sentencing Zeiger to serve out the cumulative contract terms of all the missing workers.
The Court replied that could essentially mean a life sentence, and that despite Zeiger’s role, the individual workers were responsible for breaching their own contract terms and should bear the appropriate penalties in time.
“Zeiger is only responsible for his actions, not those of others,” the Court said in approving the guilty plea.
Four of the 22 workers that sought Zeiger’s help were later apprehended in the City and assisted in the Labor Council’s investigation. In exchange, they agreed to serve the remainder of their contracts plus an additional half-annos.
The case has focused attention not only on the estimated 60 workers that have breached the work contracts they signed for transportation to Mars, but also the hundreds of City residents who have left their jobs and habitations behind without notice and moved to other chasmata.
Most Mars immigrants arrive on a 3-annos (5.5-year) work contract with Mars Devco, that includes a half-annos allowance for the 260-day transit, meaning they have 2.5 annos (4-years, 8-months) remaining on their contract on arrival.
City residents also include non-contractors filling specific roles, who have either paid their own way or been sponsored by an institution or government body and those planning to return to Earth and its orbital settlements as well as Luna and L5.
More than 7,000 City residents are still working under 3-annos contracts, and around half will finish their contract terms in February 102 and the rest in March 103. About 2,500 workers are slated to arrive with the November supply train from Earth, but several hundred will remain on the Mars Carousel or in the orbital shipyard and cargo yard.
“The City has a problem, and they’re pretending they don’t,” Zeiger told the Chaos Courier in brief comments before he was escorted from the courtroom. “I’m just a symptom. Word gets out, all the way back to Earth. Fewer workers are coming with the supply train this time and people are leaving the City. I’ll finish my time and go to Ius, or back to Earth with a cargo train.”
(Corrects contract termination date to February 102 in penultimate graf)
Council to consider 'Mars camp' for City workers
Need a break from City life? Council proposes aways for contractors, residents
URBS VALLIS, Sept. 38 - The City (Urbs Vallis) Council will consider a proposal to turn two older exploration stations into training and rest facilities for contract workers and other residents to provide a chance for them to travel outside the City.
The proposal, which comes over heightened concerns about the City losing skilled workers to other chasmata, was presented by Councillor Luca Matteo who said it would answer a prime complaint of new arrivals and long-time residents alike that they are have no opportunity to go outside the city.
“It’s a very common complaint, and one of the reasons people say they’re looking for work outside the City,” Matteo said. ‘They feel like after traveling a half billion kilometers to get here, their last view of Mars is on the shuttle ride down. After that, they never go outside the the City walls.“
Matteo said the facilities would also help to ease tension in the worker dormitories, or Cubbies, where new arrivals are housed.
“Even the most patient people need an occasional break from living in group housing,” Matteo said.
The Council approved the motion to consider the proposal on a voice vote, with only Tiberia Hernandez dissenting.
“We’re pioneers,” Hernandez said. ”We’ve built and continue to build the first city off Earth. That’s why we’re here. That’s why people come here. They’re not here for the grand tour of Mars.”
Among the sites proposed to be turned into Mars camps for City workers are an exploration station on a 2.5 km-tall saddle on a transverse slope about 30 km east of the City, a scientific station on the site of an early habitation on the high plains north of a transverse valley on the edge of Noctis Labyrinthus.
Council President Claude Paddingbury dismissed a proposal to refurbish an underused station in Oudeman’s Crater as being impractical as it involves a 350 km overland journey that would involve eight sols of travel each way.
A separate proposal to increase the frequency of inter-chasmata shuttle flights was voted down as outside the Council’s control, but Paddingbury said a formal request could be made to Mars DevCo.
Not selling vacations on Mars
DevCo Planetary Manager, Elric Balvicar, who took up his position in August, said that while the company would welcome facilities that would enhance contract worker morale, he stressed that 7,157 workers in the City and Ares Port are still under transportation contract with Mars DevCo.
“The City Council is responsible for the other 51,000 residents, but those people are under exclusive contract to Mars DevCo,” Balvicar told the Council.
“Contract terms are spelled out in the contracts. That includes living and working conditions as well as accrued time off. We make it exceedingly clear to each prospective worker that we are settling and developing a new, harsh and potentially deadly planet with all that implies,” Balvicar. “We are not selling vacations on Mars.”
Should the Council wish to provide temporary housing as an option for contract workers on accrued rest time, Mars DevCo would view that as a positive benefit, provided the housing that met its contract specifications for safety, Balvicar said.
Under the contracts, workers are guaranteed safe housing, adequate meals and jobs in their areas of expertise, but not specific positions.
“We retain the right to reassign their living quarters and their employment within the agreed-upon parameters,” Balvicar said.
The facility to the east of the City could be remodeled and expanded to house up to 150 workers on temporary stays, City Engineer Shigeru Kashira said, adding that it was relatively convenient, being a seven-hour tractor ride.
“Plus, it provides a fantastic view of the City and the west end of Tithonium Chasma as well as shuttle launches from Ares Port,” Kashira said. “Over time, we can improve the route to make the trip quicker, to increase temporary capacity and also to provide permanent housing should the Council wish.”
The site on the plateau to the north of Noctis, involves about 200km overland trip, or five-days each way, unless DevCo would consider added shuttle service, Kashira said.
That site has a current capacity of just under 100, but could be expanded quickly with masonry printed over balloon habitats, as in Melas, Kashira said.
“That’s an entirely different landscape, being on the planum, and a very Martian one,” Kashira said.
The proposal come amid concerns that the City is losing skilled workers to other chasmata due to perceptions of limited opportunities as well as residents who are planning to homestead or considering moving to other established settlements in Ius and Geryon Montes, Melas, Coprates and Candor chasmata.
Councillor Herald Severus said that the Council should consider the points made in Tithonia Superior Court by a staff manager who pleaded guilty to helping workers breach their contracts by moving outside the City.
“At least 80 workers have breached their contracts. We’ve only gotten a few back. Hundreds of long-time workers have just left,” Severus said. “What’s a main complaint? Once, they get here they don’t go anywhere else.”
For now, the City has been trying to keep workers from leaving by seeking to stop development and homesteading outside the City, Severus said.
The City, with support from Mars DevCo, has demanded a pause in all developments in the Valles Marineris that it has not approved, including major projects in Geryon Montes, Candor and Coprates. It has also demanded an immediate halt to all homesteading projects.
“We’ve, mostly tried to keep our workers by removing other options,” Severus said. “That approach is simply not working.”
Cubby clean-up in full sweep
Worker dormitories empty ahead of November arrivals
URBS VALLIS, Sept. 36 - The Cubbies are quiet for the first time, well, ever.
Everyone living in the dormitories in the first section of the Tithonium Chasma HabTube have moved to new habitations, whether as individuals are up to three roommates, Residential Supervisor Guilia Villanova said Tuesday.
“September ends on Friday and we’re a few days ahead, but we made it,” Villanova said. “Now, we can focus on refurbishing, assigning living spaces and restocking.”
Some 2,500 newcomers will arrive on the November supply train from Earth, and 1,983 of those will be moving into the cubbies, which provide small individual sleeping quarters in larger shared common areas and kitchenettes.
New arrivals will take most of their meals in their assigned canteens, but the cubbies do provide facilities for making tea, coffee and ready meals.
While, it’s not that different from the arrangements on the space liners, the cubbies do provide a bit more space as well as slightly larger bunks.
The City’s newest residents arrive with a few kilograms of personal effects shipsuits and some miscellaneous clothing.
“We have to make sure they have everything they need, from soap to clothes to coffee,” Villanova said. Among the more difficult parts of planning, is making sure that housing, bathroom and shower arrangements align with residents’ preferences, Villanova said.
“We get more complaints about that than anything. Where there’s overlaps, some groups work it out amicably, but we’d like to make it easier for them.”
When the last supply train arrived one annos ago, more than a thousand arrivals from the July 99 supply train were still living in the Cubbies.
“We’ve got more habs now in the third section and more places to put people,” Villanova said. “We’d like to get everyone out of the Cubbies as quickly as possible, but they have to get through all their training first.”
Mars Xanthe Terra dust storm steadies
Corprates, Capri still under a cloud of dust
ORSON WELLES CRATER, Sept. 40 - The Xanthe Terra dust storm has stabilized at around 3.3 million sq. km, covering most of the eastern Vallis Marineris under a dusty haze with only a little more growth likely.
“It covers about a thousand kilometer circle around Mutch Crater, from the eastern half of Melas Chasma, about midway in the Valley, to Capri Chasma at the eastern end,” Survey Mars geographer Stella Regina said.
The storm started in Lunae Planum north of Candor Chasma three weeks ago and has put all of Coprates and Ganges chasmata under a cloud of dust along with the Orson Welles Crater, east of Mutch Crater, and the Shalbatana Vallis, where a Survey crew on an inspection tour has been sitting out the storm in a deep cavern.
Regina said there had been no reports “of interest” from the Survey crew.
- Jenna Maris, Orson Welles Correspondent
Calendar
Like your job, but not your hab?
The Labor Council wants to know. The Council is asking all working residents to fill out their annual satisfaction survey of employment and habitational satisfaction that went out Friday. Answers are strictly anonymous. Replies due by midnight Saturday. Maybe don’t wait until 11:59?
15 seconds to save a life
Keep new arrivals safe outside. Ares Port and City Safety are offering four-week coursea in surfsuit for safety trainers ahead of the November arrival of new workers on the supply train from Earth obrit. Get certified. Saturday afternoons. Ares Port Shuttle Terminal 1. Register through City Safety.
Two views of the solar system
The Tithonia Museum is adding threedee planetary spectacular to their exhibition of an exquisitely detailed orrery with spheres that mimic the view from orbit of each of the planets. You can watch the old-fashioned gears turn the spheres and get ready for a close up view of everything from Mercury to Neptune. Pluto might make a guest appearance. Through October. East Terrace 12
Mum's the word
After you soak up the greenery and humid air in Tithonia Gardens new fern forest house, wander over to the chrysanthemum display. It's a rainbow of great big masses of flowers. Through end October. Habtube 2, Terrace 4
City farmers' market
Going green with veggie envy? Get to the City farmer's market. Stalls available by appointment. Industrial Tube Terminal. Saturday 0900-1500
Jump!
Get ready to jump without worrying about the ceiling. Learn to play volleyball at the new Hab3 beach. Saturday, Sunday sessions 08:00, 10:00, 12:00. North Beach Hab3 Terrace 1
“Next Stop Proxima”
Scifi adventure threedee about the first fleet to Proxima Centauri. There's a surprise. Stage 3. Hab 1. Terrace 8 Sept. 45-Oct. 5, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00
Acoustic Song Share
Bring your best tunes. Cafe du Mont. Geryon Agora Saturday 16:00
Coprates Samba Soiree
The best Mars samba at Schiapparelli Hall. Friday 18:00
City Social
Mix and mingle with new arrivals and old hands. Hab 2. Terrace 4, by Tithonia Gardens. Every Friday 17:00
- Merry Grace, lifestyle correspondent
The Chaos Courier helps you over the rough spots.
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The header photo is the iconic mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars from 2,500 km above the surface taken by the Viking Orbiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The Candor Chaos Courier, Candor Chaos, Valles Marineris, Mars
The Chaos Courier gets you over the rough spots
Future News from Small Town Mars
Copyright © 2024, M. Fitzpatrick, all rights reserved
Photomosaic: Viking Orbiter: NASA/JPL-Caltech