Sucked in - Workers/Australia
Paige Taylor; 4/4/08
Once you’re in, it’s hard to get out. The seductive pull of fly-in, fly-out work in the mining and resources sector may not be obvious: shifts up to 14 hours, harsh and isolated locations, and an industry awash with broken relationships caused by sustained separation. Pete and Lee Cochrane who are fly in and fly out miners with BHP Mt Whaleback Mine at Newman. Picture: Colin Murty But the pay, starting at about $110,000 a year for unskilled labour, is hard to resist. Being fed, clothed and accommodated on site at the boss’s expense is not bad either. “Some people actually become institutionalised in a funny way, they get so used to having everything laid on for them,” says Peter Cochrane, 50, a fly-in, fly-out miner for the past 15 years. Cochrane and his wife, Lee, work two weeks out of every three at BHP Billiton’s Mt Whaleback operation in Newman, 1200km northeast of Perth. They are free to work away from home in Perth because Cochrane’s adult son and daughter from a previous relationship live in New Zealand.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23479782-28737,00.html