After a bit of suggesting, S and Is came to the group and requested a salary correction. Now that they jobs are in place, they felt they were being underpaid, and so did I. S made a list of reasons that they should get more, and they addressed the group. At first Is said that any raise at all would be appreciated, so we had a negotiating mini lesson. Start by asking for more than will make you happy. S changed their request to $600, which would be the top salary tier. There was negotiation back and forth again about what is hard and what isn’t. There were lower counter offers. I pointed out that you have to know (or at least appear to go on as if)  negotiation isn’t personal; that the other side is testing how little you will take. We could not come to consensus, so we voted, and the decision was to increase their salary to $525 per week. I think this is an interim step, and the understanding that asking for what you want usually gets you more than not doing so was introduced.  S and Is had to stand firm, and they did.

S’s talking points

Old Salaries and Genders:
                                                                                                   
Graphic Designer, Blogger,
Cartoonist/Sign Maker                           $ 450,    F,F,M
Librarian                                                 $ 450     M,F
Tech Manager                                         $ 475     M
Supply Manager                                     $ 475     M,M,F
Building and Grounds                            $ 575     M,M,M
Banker                                                    $ 600     M,M
Board and Schedule Manager                $ 450      F,F
New Board and Schedule Manager        $525      F,F  

This brings the average girl salary to $479 per week, and the average boy salary to $ 471 per week.
Now, the sample size is very small, and not equally divided, so I don’t think the averages are all that meaningful. But, it seems like one necessary correction is partially made- Board and Schedule Manager have a hard job and should be compensated with that in mind. We also all had a negotiating lesson.

One thing I heard a couple of times was the idea of inflation- if everyone got more salary, “prices would just go up, so people wouldn’t really have more.”  I set the prices in the general store, so that is up to me, and I do set them to roughly match initial  salaries, but I don’t raise them. They could enjoy raises as additional prosperity. They might charge each other more for goods and services if they had more money to spend, and they have begun to sell one another goods and services. I am interested in this idea, so I may see if we can pursue it a bit as we get the government up and going.