FIFO worker breaks down his salary increase to $3200 a week after taking a VERY short course
A flight attendant turned FIFO worker has explained how she earns $3,200 a week after taxes at an Australian mine, but also exposed the downside.
Megan Meeke, a former flight attendant for Virgin, increased her weekly salary by more than 30 percent after taking a simple eight-hour online training course that gave her more registered skills to use on the job site.
She warns that it’s far from easy money, describing how she often has to work up to 77 hours a week – not to mention dealing with offensive comments from male colleagues.
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Megan Meeke (pictured) is training for three new tickets to a job as a trading assistant – which sees her salary soar to $3,200 per week – but it’s not without its downsides.
Completing the training took Ms Meeke (pictured) just one day, with eight hours of online training
Ms Meeke also reveals how brutal the list is – working 77 hours a week
‘You only get a job in the mines because you kneel,’ he told one man.
One follower, who works in mines in north Queensland commented: ‘It’s as if we didn’t have to go through months of medical checkups and interviews.’
A Perth FIFO supervisor also stepped in, claiming he had fired someone ‘for telling this to one of the women’s trucks’.
“There’s no room for that,” he said.
Previously Meeke uploaded a viral post to TikTok celebrating signing a new $3,200 a week contract – after taxes.
He explained to curious followers how the raise came about.
Ms Meeke did training for three new tickets to get a job as a trade assistant: working in confined spaces, working at heights and an atmospheric gas testing ticket.
This training involves a one-day course and eight hours of online training.
Some commentators point out that even after his raise, Meeke earned ‘only’ $41 an hour – after taxes – for his brutal 77 hours a week.
Megan Meeke, 27, former Virgin flight attendant, earns $3,200 a week after taxes from her job at FIFO in Western Australia’s Pilbara mining region
Ms Meeke (pictured) conducts training for three new tickets to get a job as a trade assistant: working in confined spaces, working at heights and gas testing atmosphere tickets
A typical day starts at 3.30am if he works from 4am to 4pm, or 4.30am – which is bedtime – for a 5am to 5pm shift.
While most Australians are still getting their last hour of sleep, Meeke is on site early for a safety briefing before work.
Everyone gets one hour of lunch breaks plus two 20-minute breaks a day.
After her 12 hour shift, she comes home to shower, then has dinner in the dry room and if she has the energy, drinks with coworkers at the tavern.
‘Or go to my room and pass out because I’m so tired, I try and sleep at 9pm.’
But he points out that he can save far more than he would at the same hourly rate on a city job because it’s all paid for.
‘When you are on location for those two weeks, everything is paid for – accommodation (called ‘dongas’), all your food, drinks, snacks – everything.
‘They also have game nights, bingo, gym, pool, everything you need to be honest! And all for free. Not that I’ve ever been to the gym but I’m always too tired from that day.’
The list, known as the ‘swing’, involves him doing 14 days in a row before he gets a day off.
The former Virgin flight attendant came to Australia in 2019 and tried several jobs to support her travels before opting for a fly-in-fly-out mining job.
At least once a month, she hops on a plane to explore other parts of Australia or party at glamorous resort locations like the Maldives, Dubai, Thailand and Bali.
Then at least once a month, he hops on a plane to explore other parts of Australia or party at glamorous resort locations like the Maldives, Dubai, Thailand and Bali.
“It’s definitely a grueling job but also an amazing lifestyle if you’re someone who wants to travel the world and earn amazing money,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘FIFO is something I highly recommend, especially if you are young and want to travel, you get great money and a great lifestyle!
‘You work hard for two weeks, then you get a week off to go to another country or explore more of Australia, then go back to work, work hard, earn a lot of money and then travel again.’
Since arriving in Australia, he has traveled to Bali, Croatia, Mexico, America and Thailand, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Dubai and Singapore.
The best thing about FIFO work, he says, is definitely the money.
#FIFO #worker #breaks #salary #increase #week #short
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