Salt Miners Guild
The Salt Miners Guild was the first mining organization operating in Dźike to extract salt and trade salt. The merchants treated workers fairly, and it was the largest corporation in the city. However, its glory ended when it became apparent that working in the mines caused serious health problems. It was quickly surpassed by the Salt Trading Company and disbanded in 1198.
History
When Remnavi colonists founded Dźike, they decided to manage the salt mines with time slots. Any organization could buy any slot and extract salt for its scheduled time. Several miners groups rose and started their businesses, dividing the available time resources almost equally since none of them was wealthy enough already to outbuy everyone else.
The fair share of resources did not last long, and, within a couple of years, some organizations amassed more wealth than the others for various reasons. They started buying more and more time slots, excluding lesser organizations from the business. The Salt Miners Guild was the most powerful among them.
The Guild was renowned for its fairness towards workers. It paid them well, as much as crafters, slightly more than the other organizations. Above all, it offered a lifetime pension for people over 55 years with at least 15 years of work for the Guild. Spouses over 60 years of age could inherit the grant after the recipient's death.
Every other person in town was working for the Salt Miners Guild, and the business took off. In less than a dozen years, they had complete control over the mines, and it remained so for about another dozen years.
Disbandment
The Guild's end was as fast as its rise.
Handling salt the whole day, every day for years and breathing the fine salt particles spread in the mines took its toll on the workers' health. It became apparent that working in the mines was unhealthy and lethal in the long run. Nobody wanted to work there anymore, no matter how profitable the pension was. The Guild lost miners at first, then money, when they had to pay more in pensions than they earned in trading.
In 1192, they had to free some of the time slots in the mines since they could not afford to maintain the monopoly anymore. Other organization rose, but among them, the Salt Trading Company emerged. Since they exploited slavery, their only expenses were ensuring the time slots and buying the few necessary tools for mining. Their power quickly became unmatched.
The Guild lost more and more time over the next six years until it dissolved in 1198, its last assets bought by the Company.
What people learnt from the Salt Miners Guild events was to never be fair to others. They treated their employees well, and for that, they failed in less than thirty years. The Salt Trading Company, on the other hand, exploits slavery and is still up and running, with over nine centuries of activity.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
1171 - 1198
Type
Corporation, Mining/Resources
Successor Organization
Location
Comments