And lets just clarify a few things here shall we...
Mine Truck drivers get what they do because of:
- Potential Geographic location
- Shift work - This is where the real money comes from with night shifts and penalties
- Hours worked
South Oz miners dont pull much more than $90k unless they pull a lot of O/T.
Conversely - Pilbara miners for instance, get high incomes, but ever looked at the price of rental in the area? Cost of food, fuel etc? It tends to balance out.
Me, I dont "mine" but do work at one, as one of the Grade controllers AND the snake handler
The stresses of my job are decisions worth millions every day - not a few million, LOTS of millions - we're talking company killing decisions...
Then there are venomous reptiles - how much would YOU like to be paid to go grab 6 foot of angry, pee-ed off snake? I just went and removed 2 today that were upsetting the work crew nearby.
I packed up my family and moved 6 years ago to a better lifestyle and actually less pay (when I first moved here) and was happy..
Now both myself and my lovely wife work in MX (Mines and Export) and make a great living... Our 17 yr old son is happy, has a better, balanced life here and we all enjoy the fruits of our labours...
Would I go on call? Well I am, constantly, and paid a retaining rate to be as such... And when called, my rate increases accordingly...
And so it should - My private time is more valuable to me than my pay rate.
You want people, you pay... Simple....
People want more money.. Heres a few ways how..
- Work more hours
- Work for better employer
- Change jobs / job field
- Move
- Study more - Get educated in a field that pays more
But on the original topic - maybe the stars and moon aligned and all those people where actually busy/ on the loo/ outside, etc when you rang...
It does happen... 
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