Mechanical Fitters- Newcastle/Hunter Valley NSW

[gconnolly87]

Came to Australia with Komatsu in May 2012, currently unemployed but have permanent residency. So been a bit up and down, I am now looking for work and exploring all avenues to be honest.

 

Would like full time work but at the moment would take casual or contract to get work as its been 2 months now. Living in Hunter Valley right now,

I have looked into FIFO but can't see any companies willing to take people from the East as a hiring point

 

 

Would do any kind of manual hands on type job, so if anyone on here knows of any FIFO jobs, local jobs i.e Newcastle and Central Coast, I would appreciate the help. Have exhausted SEEK website and just looking to see if anyone knows or can help.

 

 

Gary

[scuffythetugboat]

You have probably looked at it already, Bechtel are hiring now for Gladstone LNG's. A mate of mine is FIFO from Newcastle as a pipefitter on the project. It will depend on your experience I suppose but it would be worth investigating.

[gconnolly87]

Thanks mate, yeah a mate of mine recommended this place too. Having few problems accessing their site, going to another persons house to try their laptop as unable to open the jobs page on mine.

[Eera]

Have you tried local council? They don't pay anywhere near as good as the mines, which is why they have trouble recruiting, but it'll see you right for a while. Unfortunately, even fitters are finding it hard going with the downturn at the moment

[gconnolly87]

Thanks Eera, yeah local councils seem to have reduce their intake like most places of late. Still quiet atm, looking into FIFO options but most require being based in QLD, Perth or others. Hard to get NSW point of hire, trying to get anything now to keep me busy over the Christmas period. Thanks for the replies guys.

[bwatt99]

So is anyone on this bechtel job as a mechanical fitter,if so what are you clearing per week or per roster 4/1?If you prefer to pm me this please do.

I have just been working for an employer for past month on a shutdown and has offere me a position on this job for approx 3 months.

He did mention approx how much i could earn a week gross and sent me an agreement from site,but to be honest cant get my head around it or whats on offer.

 

I am also being offered or should i say in the process of being picked for a pipe fitters role in a bhp billinton construction site this im told would be 5 months,they again emailed me rates etc but again im confused as to what can be earned on this job,as they mentioned about other payments etc.

 

Being a newbie to oz and having a very bad year last year as in work they seem to be coming from everywhere now,but im used to overseas working a working week and then overtime kicks in and on sat and sun time and half and double time,i think this is called penalties here right.

So i take the same works here standard rate for so many hours per week and then overtime after that.

One employer said 7.2 hrs standard rate,then next 2 hrs time and half and after that double,im thinking after you have worked a set hrs per week your paid the overtime/penalties.

 

I should be greatfull of any job offers im getting but both are 4/1 and im just trying to get my head around how things work here and work out who is better paying and what job maybe the best for me,one might not even come off yet as going through references right now but incase it does need to pick one.

[Eera]

What you are paid depends on the Award you are on, this will stipulate standard hours, overtime rate (yep, that's the penalty rate) plus any other benefit; you can sometimes claim for working in the wet, having oily clothes and other things you normally wouldn't consider.

 

Generally, but not always, your pay rate has all the overtime rates factored into it in the first place, so say if you did 10 hours day shift at $40, and ten hours night shift at $60, your pay slip would say "20 hours at $50". This can get confusing. My OH has a base salary of $80k, but gets site allowance, shift allowance, tool allowance and a whole heap of other stuff that basically gets lumped into an annual salary of about $150k, and shows in the payslip as a set hourly dollar amount. Whether they do it like this on contract work I don't know.

 

There really isn't a standard way of presenting salary in Australia. You need to ask "how much is in my pocket at the end of each week" and that should give you the best comparison.

 

Personally, if I had the choice of working on a Bechtel site or running far, far away, the latter is the one I'd choose.

[bwatt99]

What you are paid depends on the Award you are on, this will stipulate standard hours, overtime rate (yep, that's the penalty rate) plus any other benefit; you can sometimes claim for working in the wet, having oily clothes and other things you normally wouldn't consider.

 

Generally, but not always, your pay rate has all the overtime rates factored into it in the first place, so say if you did 10 hours day shift at $40, and ten hours night shift at $60, your pay slip would say "20 hours at $50". This can get confusing. My OH has a base salary of $80k, but gets site allowance, shift allowance, tool allowance and a whole heap of other stuff that basically gets lumped into an annual salary of about $150k, and shows in the payslip as a set hourly dollar amount. Whether they do it like this on contract work I don't know.

 

There really isn't a standard way of presenting salary in Australia. You need to ask "how much is in my pocket at the end of each week" and that should give you the best comparison.

 

Personally, if I had the choice of working on a Bechtel site or running far, far away, the latter is the one I'd choose.

 

whats so bad about the bechtel site then?

[Eera]

I'll PM you.

[hawkmoon1704]

Guys, I've got my visa and am now looking for work as a mechanical fitter. What are the chances of work offers if applying from UK? Any tips you can give me for the process or just a bit of guidance. Dont mind the FIFO or DIDO just looking for work before we get there. PM if you prefer.

 

Thanks for you help.