The cost of low wages

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#!dcdisplay fp\b0\i0\fs10Date~27.09.2001; Slug=Joe_Foss_statue; Source=Local:Staff; Time~14:57; Type=Picture; ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ fs16\bJoe Foss statuefs12\b0 <> The statue of Joe Foss will be moved to the center of the airport's main lobby. (Lloyd B. Cunningham) (slug: Joe Foss statue) fp\b0\i0\fs10ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ fp\i0\b\fs16Digital Collections/IPTC fp\b0\i0\fs10Date Shot=20010927; Photographer=Lloyd_B._Cunningham;

Welcome to the Sioux Falls Airport, your low wage tour of our city starts here.

Ever stare at the person behind a (customer service) counter and wonder how they could be so incredibly miserable, ignorant or apathetic? Ever think that maybe because they have to put up with people like you all day when they don’t make a living wage, or they have several part-time jobs like this just to pay their health insurance and get by. Maybe they are not stupid, maybe they are zombified into exhaustion.

Recently a friend of mine told me that one of the airlines contracted at the Sioux Falls Airport suddenly lost their contract. They got dinged on something, my friend thought maybe it was for screwing up on baggage delivery too much. Either way, another airline is replacing them.

The worst part is that the airline that is leaving only paid $10.16 an hour to it’s customer service reps BUT they offered free travel benefits and even their part-time employees could buy into reasonable health benefits. They also offered a $.50 raise after a short review period.

Not a living wage, but at least their were other benefits to subset the crappy hourly.

The new contractor isn’t having it. Not only are they starting anyone who wants to come to work with them from the old contractor (you have to go through an interview first) a lesser wage (I believe $10 an hour) NO raises for almost 3 years and NO health benefits to anyone who works under 30 hours a week. The rumor going around is that they will have no one working over 30 hours a week.

I find this all ironic with the recent proposal to take money from essentially the airport authority to pay for infrastructure for wealthy companies to come into our community. Maybe the airport needs to figure out ways (fees) so they can pay their workers more? While we can hoop and holler all we want about our world class airport, in reality it is being ran by poverty wage workers, while the rich developers and shakers in town are trying to squander the money for wealthy corporations who can pay for their own infrastructure (and should). If they can’t and are not willing to provide a living wage, why do we even want them here? I would rather see Foundation Park grow slow and provide solid jobs, then to pop up over night with trailer parks and low income apartments surrounding the area with it’s workers.

Sioux Falls certainly has an image crisis, and it has to do with the kind of wages it is paying to people. You get what you pay for, a miserable, ignorant, apathetic and an exhausted workforce being squandered by the greed of few who have to have secret and possibly illegal meetings with local elected officials to get their plans pushed through. They were foiled this time.

City Golf Course management seeks ‘lost revenue’

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Dakota Golf Management has made a lot of payola from the city over the years, providing a great service and making the golf courses profitable for them and the city. Bravo. Now they are looking to be compensated for lost revenue from the the airport reconstruction project.

First I will say, what about the lost revenue to the city? Are the taxpayers just supposed to suck it up? Well yeah. So why can’t a management company that has done very well from their years of successful management do the same? If the taxpayers of Sioux Falls are on the hook for lost revenue, they should be to. Want lost revenue? Go sue the Airport or suck it up, just like every other business in Sioux Falls that experiences lost revenue due to city street projects. City taxpayers shouldn’t be responsible for lost revenue experienced due to what a private entity (the airport) caused.

Part III of Jamison’s ‘People (Monkeys) First Initiative’

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Sioux Falls – Jamison, on Monday will announce part III of his People (Monkey’s) First Initiative, which will release the (snow) monkeys at the Great Plains Zoo. Jamison’s plan will be allowing the monkeys to either find a place down by the Big Sioux River on their own, or they can couch surf as long as they like.

Jamison feels it is time to ‘Release the Monkeys’ and give them the freedoms their descendants have (no offense Manny Steele).

Of course, the Huether campaign was quick to respond. Huether said, “I have been planning the release of the snow monkeys for a couple of months, ever since I took them on an ice fishing trip out at my lake home on Diamond Lake. Heck, I would go even a step further, and let them stay at my lake home, of course, if they don’t throw any crap, because, you know, I don’t like CRAP.”

Jamison also said that Huether missed the 2nd and 3rd tier of this initiative, allowing squirrels to maintain several nests on different properties within the city limits.

Huether responded by saying, “I have been allowing the cottontails AND squirrels to do that for several years through an executive order, and you can bet a snowgate tour of the event center for affordable airfares on it that the squirrels and rabbits are happy about it, but the chickens, not so much.”

Stay tuned, Jamison plans to announce his ‘No crying at press conferences’ initiative next week. Don’t bring tissues to the press conference, just your big boy/girl pants.

Did the airlines play the bait and switch on consumers?

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I found this Stormland-TV story leaves you with more questions, then answers;

The average ticket price spiked 24 percent in the last three years.

Sioux Falls Airport Authority hoped that adding airlines and more flights would make flying more affordable, but that hasn’t happened.

“This flight on Allegiant for the two of us was a little over $800 and we’re used to paying $200 or $250 round trip.  That’s the difference of $300 more,” passenger Erlyce Pekas said.

“A lot of airlines have removed flights so there are only a certain number of flights that will leave Sioux Falls or connect to other destinations.  If those flights are full and they can continue to fill them at the higher price, we’re going to see those prices high,” Buus said.

First question I have is what did the SF Airport Authority, city officials and the Mayor know when they were promoting more affordable air travel out of Sioux Falls? While I commend all three for getting us more flights, I wonder just ‘what’ the airlines promised Sioux Falls officials? Was there ever a contract or goodwill contract signed about airfares and increases? Are the airlines playing bait and switch with consumers, and did these officials know that was the plan all along?

Like I said, bringing in more options is great, but if the airlines are using the opportunity to gouge us now it seems the new popularity of air travel out of Sioux Falls is fleeting.

But remember, like most ‘growth’ ideas out of city hall, it’s about closing the deal and the ‘short term’ benefits. I’m not accusing MMM of anything nefarious here, in fact, I doubt he knew what the long term plans were for the airlines to increase fares, nor did he even care. Funny how all of this expansion and availability at the SF Airport is starting to look more and more like a certain Credit Card’s interest rate after 90 days.