11/06/2026
Murrin Murrin maggot infestation mass meeting at the historical Trades Hall, upstairs 1998... were you there?!
Joe McDonald recalls the story in the book “If You Don’t Fight, You Lose.”
“All hell broke loose at Murrin Murrin during Anaconda’s construction of their laterite nickel and cobalt plant in 1998. There were 1800 workers out in the middle of nowhere, the least they expected was a decent feed on site. The blokes sat down and their tucker was riddled with maggots. Not the sort you find in suits wearing white hard hats - these were the disgusting wiggly types! The blokes stopped work until things were sorted in the kitchen. I flew out to discuss the situation with the bosses and suggested they get some meat/steaks in cold storage and set up a few BBQ’s so at least the blokes could eat something substantial while the kitchen and health procedures were sorted out. The company refused, no way they said, so the blokes said eat your own f #@!ing maggot’s and stopped work. At the end, they had to refit the entire kitchen to improve food storage, handling and safety, the blokes went home but all got paid.”
CFMEU WA
