The immense power of the law of supply & demand is being demonstrated in a big way these days in Western Australia where many uneducated young men are making big $$$$:
One of the fastest-growing costs in the global mining industry are workers like James Dinnison: the 25-year-old high-school dropout from Western Australia makes $200,000 a year running drills in underground mines to extract gold and other minerals.
A precious commodity himself, Mr. Dinnison belongs to a class of nouveau riche rising in remote and mineral-rich parts of the world, such as Western Australia state, where mining companies are investing heavily to develop and expand iron-ore mines. Demand for those willing to work 12-hour days in sometimes dangerous conditions, while living for weeks in dusty small towns, is huge.
Wow..big bucks..and to think that I worked as a laborer on the construction of a dam in Kununurra, W.A., circa 1962, for waaay less than that.
Off topic….but another one for the “Bambi was not a documentary” file.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062721/Drunk-zoo-visitor-ends-hospital-climbing-monkey-enclosure-play.html
This is how the entitlement generation will self immolate. Blue collar workers becoming so rare that they are the new economic force. Cause & effect.
What??? And I can’t get a job with my puppetry degree?
It must irk the hell out of a sociology grad (Bachelors or Masters) to learn that an underground miner with zero time in university makes MUCH more than them?!
Conversely, when I worked as a mining engineer way back when, I fully understood that the underground miners made much more than me. I didn’t begrudge them one cent of that. Their work was MUCH more physically demanding than mine and the punishment on their bodies the same. But even if it wasn’t, why would I feel jealous? For if I wanted to do that kind of work then I would take the necessary steps to DO IT. That concept seems so foreign to the Left.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!
Whats really suprising is why isn’t the Aussie government FLOODING the country with 100’s and 100’s upon 100’s of thousands of immigrants and temporary workers to take those jobs and force down wages like Canada is doing
If anyone here knows a young person who wants to get into the mining industry in any way, point them to the Haileybury School Of Mining, in Haileybury Ontario. It offers college level training in many aspects of the mining industry. I work with many grads of it who are control and instrumentation technicians, and they are first rate people (and we make min 100 k, before OT, not in mining)
I have said for years that I will hire someone with his/her grade 10 and a work ethic over some college grad who believes he’s superior. The self important elites still need the food from farmers, made possible by the machinery (mining), and the energy to run it (oil), and the manufacturers to assemble it. Their cars, cellphones and medical equipment (and the people to repair them) don’t just fall from the sky. A degree in gender studies, I think I’ll pass. The pendulum is swinging but it may be to late.
two words why lefties don’t mine, “work is hard”
time to occupy western australia.
I have seen an job opening for a mining engineer with 10 years experience, to work at a remote mine in NW Australia. Opening salary offer was AUD300k plus moving expenses, plus room/board when at site.
And we thought Alberta had a labour shortage
“And we thought Alberta had a labour shortage”
Alberta does not have a labour shortage. It has a pay shortage. There really is no such thing as a labour shortage. As mentioned above the government keeps letting in vast numbers of foreigners to keep the working class poor and their business friends rich.
And in 15 years, their bodies won’t be able to take to take the work any more, they’ll have spent all their money, and they’ll be unemployed with virtually no marketable skills.
Brings back memories…
A high school chum approached me during my first year as a Chartered Accountant intern (read indentured servant) to prepare his income tax.
I’d spent four years getting an HBComm degree and was working for $12,000 per annum to fulfill my work experience to become a CA (Americans, read CPA with an MBA in Finance or so on top).
My chum had spent five years working the Trans-Canada Pipeline. His T4 slip for year five was for $180,000, and it was pretty much equal to his T4 slip for the other four years as well.
And remember, this was back in 1980, when $180,000 was really worth $180,000…
Oh well, supply and demand…fortunately he was a great guy and I couldn’t begrudge him his good fortune.
djb … “And in 15 years, their bodies…” blah blah blah …. AS IF … you ever have done any physical labour or any real work at all!
Good for the fellas that have enough testosterone to actually work instead of bitching about how tough life is. Unfortunately for them the green fascists have plans for all that wealth earned by other people so …
They’ll need 200k a year to pay for gorceries…
Worked underground in northern Manitoba during my early 20’s; underground was like a great big adventure especially the ‘splosions you could get from a bag of Amex and a stick of horsec*ck.
If I had it do over again I would but with better money management.
djb:
You make a big assumption that they won’t be able to work and that their money will be gone.
As for marketable skills, being a High School Dropout and learning to become a Hardrock Miner making 200,000/Yr doesn’t equate to a lack of a skill set.
Drilling into hard rock, especially underground, is extremely hard on the lungs. The average career is about 5 years. Similar to commercial diving, which also pays an incredible salary. It’s certainly a better path than some of us have to follow. Coal miners make a fair wage, but suffer just as many ailments as any high risk/high reward jobs. Soldiers make peanuts, and risk everything, every day.
My best friend,( mining and exploration), works in NWT about 1 hour from Yellowknife, He has mined in Greenland, South America and Africa. He has a say in hiring and tells me that anyone with 2 recent years in a government union on their resume doesn’t even get a look. He learned from his mistakes.
“And in 15 years, their bodies won’t be able to take to take the work any more, they’ll have spent all their money, and they’ll be unemployed with virtually no marketable skills.”
Maybe,but many WILL save a good portion of their earnings,like my Son’s friend who went up to Fort McMurray several years ago,and has invested in real estate. Last I heard he owned four houses and was still working,making the big bucks.Not all the young folks today are as stupid as many of my generation were.
And don’t assume the man has no marketable skills, good labourers are always in demand and make better than average wages. The company I worked for last year paid their jack-of-all-trades labourer over $20 an hour,and he was well worth it.
OMMAG: Astounding! What else can you tell me about myself that’s complete, utter, horsecrap?
dmorris: Of course there will be some. Pity none of them were interviewed for the story.
Johnny White: I worked for TCPL in the mid-late 80s. Tough work, long hours, fantastic pay. Got really tired of wood ticks in a hurry, though…
DJB … So then … you speak from experience?
Bragging or complaining? Like your comments on what someone might of might not do with their own life and opportunities your retort smacks of small mans self image probelms.
Horse shit? Only you are in a position to know … and I don’t care.
It’s true – I know quite a few guys who worked the rigs in Alberta. The majority end up blowing all their income on trucks, drugs, and women. Three years raking in a fantastic income, and they have nothing to show for it. Not a bad way to spend your time when you’re young and full of testosterone, but not a good strategy for the long run.
Most of those chumps at occupy…… are wondering how come with their degree in middle eastern ethics or whatever, have not been scooped up by breathless employers for fancy and high paying work.The arts faculty at uni is b.s.