I arrived to Denali in the middle of season. I come by hitchhiking from Anchorage. In case you have job contract the company will pay for your transportation. Bus ticket - one way - costs cca $70. From offered jobs: diswashing, , buswashing, housekeeping, maintenance and buser I choose buswashing because I could have more overtimes. I was lucky because first half of season overtimes were not allowed.
We worked in two shifts and ten hours per day and four days per week. Later it was changed to 8/5. I worked from 3.30 pm to 2 am. It is true that condition were changed several times and we were not sure about any overtimes...
They paid $7,5 and if you complete a contract you have got a bonus - $.5 per hour. Overtime was paid by the law in 1.5 rate. We paid $11 per day for meal, room and laundry.
Housing - I was in a room with Vernon - Athabascan. He worked like a bus driver. Most of building were hidden in forest and you could see almost just yours one. It was easy to meet moose or another wild animal just by your house.
Because they had problems to hire enough people for the season, smoking weeds, drinking beer, tattoos ... it was a little bit tolerated. I am afraid that it is over. Because in 1998 was not here any Czech, in 1999 just two and in 2000 already about twenty. Latvians were even more.....I guess they would not have problems with lack of workers anymore. And they would not have opportunity to work overtime so to earn better money.
