Yahoo Finance Traffic controller reveals truth behind lucrative $200k-a-year role: 'It's not what you think'
Nyah says there's a lot more to the job than just twisting a sign all day.
A young road traffic controller has issued a challenge to those who think her job is a bludge: "I'd like to see you try".
Tradies have recently been opening up about how much they get paid and a road traffic controller has revealed she is pulling in $200,000 a year thanks to long night shifts and overtime.
However, fellow traffic controller Nyah Covey wants Aussies to know there’s a lot more to the job than just twisting a 'Stop/Slow' sign. She said she’d been inundated with messages from people saying traffic controllers “make bank”, however that's not the reality for many.
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“A lot of people have said some stuff to me and I’ve been like ‘No, it’s not it at all’, especially [from] people who want to get into [road traffic controlling],” she said.
“It’s really not what you hear.”
The 21-year-old posted a video to TikTok showing how she earned around $2,300 for five 12-hour shifts and was usually paid around $32 an hour. But she hit back at people who suggested she was “complaining” for pulling in that amount for “easy” work.
“I'm gonna assume that you have never done traffic control and may have never worked in a construction site or in this industry at all,” she said in another video.
“I would honestly like to see you be a traffic controller for a day actually.”
Road traffic controllers can attract a decent hourly rate because of the risk involved in the job. They have to make sure pedestrian and vehicle flow around the construction site moves smoothly and they face a range of hazards, from distracted drivers not obeying their orders, to assault, as well as exposure to toxins from construction materials.
Covey works in the Traffic Management Implementation (TMI) section of traffic controlling, which means she is responsible for setting up the site and for road safety matters that happen on site.
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“My job is easy compared to someone else. But you know what? My job is also harder compared to someone else,” she said.
“There's always going to be someone working harder, doing something more difficult. So, yeah, you can hate if you want to.”
How road traffic controllers are making up to $200K
Covey said the people making six figures from the profession liked working on a union construction site because they paid a lot more.
Fellow road traffic controller Suzie opened up about why she was able to earn $200,000. She explained that she did night shifts, where penalty rates and loadings were “really good”.
“It’s usually we’re the first on the job and the last [to leave],” she revealed in a TikTok video.
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Suzie said there was a lot of ignorance about her line of work and many didn’t understand how “high-risk” her job could be.
“A young person is not asked a single question of what do you do when you approach roadworks,” she said. “There should be more awareness.”
Earlier this year, the Construction, Forestry, Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) was looking at a deal that would see Victorian road traffic controllers get paid a minimum of $120,000 a year for a 36-hour week.
CFMEU boss John Setka told the Herald Sun workers were entitled to a decent pay package due to the nature of the job and the cost-of-living crisis.
“Everyone is allowed to increase the cost of everything but we are not allowed to increase wages — fair dinkum?" Setka said. "We want a pay rise to keep up with the cost of living and we are not allowed? We are not going to be the sacrificial lambs.”
