West Gate Tunnel, Metro Tunnel workers cashing in huge pay packets with generous allowances
“Lollipop” traffic controllers on the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel construction sites are raking in at least $105,000 to turn a pole on the taxpayer-funded project. See how your wage compares here.
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Traffic controllers at the Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel construction sites are raking in at least $105,000 a year.
And those turning the “lollipop” stop signs can earn thousands of dollars more, as their pay rate soars to $100 an hour if they do shift work during Victoria’s road and rail construction blitz.
Some of the highest-paid workers on the major infrastructure projects are tunnellers, who can collect more than $260,000 a year as they pull gruelling shifts to keep the state’s giant $50 billion taxpayer-funded building boom on track.
Australia’s average full-time salary of $86,000 pales in comparison.
Amid warnings about the spiralling cost of major projects and the state’s debt doubling to $54.9 billion, generous perks allow construction workers to make at least $150,000 a year — double the average advertised salary for nurses and teachers.
They receive a base rate of at least $43 an hour — which is doubled during shift work needed in school holiday building blitzes — plus special site allowances for major projects and a daily $47 travel subsidy.
Master Builders Victoria says taxpayers are “held to ransom to astronomically high wage outcomes”, but the pay packets are defended by unions who insist that the work is dangerous and demanding.
The government says more than 12,000 Victorians are now working on the “unprecedented” pipeline of infrastructure projects.
Salaries for construction workers will soar even further on the $11 billion Metro rail project, with 5 per cent wage rises locked in for the next two years, followed by 4 per cent increases in 2022 and 2023. A dispute over a workplace agreement to cover CFMEU and Australian Workers’ Union members at the $6.7 billion West Gate Tunnel site continues, but “industry standard” agreements are in place with generous entitlements.
Tunnellers on that site use rosters that include 10-hour shifts for seven consecutive days before breaks of three or four days, which can result in annual salaries of about $263,000.
Master Builders Victoria chief Rebecca Casson said commercial construction workers were already “extremely well paid”, and many earned more than $180,000 for a 51-hour week before site allowances on major projects were factored in.
She warned ignoring “runaway wages” on major projects “could be perceived as fiscally irresponsible and may threaten the economic health of our state”.
But AWU state secretary Ben Davis said wages only accounted for about 15 per cent of project costs.
“Construction workers are well paid because they work a lot of hours in a dangerous industry,” he said.
“The construction industry kills more people at work than any other industry. If it’s good enough for office managers to earn double-digit pay rises, then why shouldn’t other workers be paid good wages?”
The government says most of its major projects are delivered at fixed costs, with wages built into these budgets, as contractors have to compete with strong nationwide demand for skilled labourers.
Some of the perks included in the Metro Tunnel deal, signed late last year, were a top-up to overtime rates and big living-away-from-home allowances.
It is the biggest public transport project in the state’s history, connecting South Yarra to Kensington via twin tunnels with five new underground railway stations.
But state Auditor-General Andrew Greaves recently warned there had already been $100 million of cost overruns in early works, and the blowout would have been bigger if not for lower-than-expected land acquisition costs.
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MAKING THE MONEY: SHIFT WORK ON METRO TUNNEL
CLASSIFICATION — HOURLY PAY 2019 — HOURLY PAY 2023
Labourer, traffic controller / $101 / $119
Rigger, pipe layer / $107 / $126
Excavating tunneller/ $113 / $133
Borehead operator / $118 / $139
Senior crane operator / $122 / $144
*Includes base rate, shift work loading, site allowance and travel allowance
*Source: 2018-22 EBA
TYPICAL HOURLY WAGES FOR OTHER JOBS
Registed Nurse - $26
Teacher - $26
Carpenter - $25
Mechanic - $24
Sales assistant - $22
Childcare worker - $22
Waiter - $21
*Source: fairwork.gov.au
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