The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) is warning workers on the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project may have to walk off the job to protect their safety and wellbeing due to unhygienic food being served on site.
Workers have taken photos of food riddled with maggots being served on site, and other meals that appear all but inedible.
AWU NSW Secretary Tony Callinan said the food being served was indicative of a broader management problem on site.
He said: “Supermax prisoners are served better food than the workers building Snowy Hydro 2.0.
“You have workers living, literally locked up in a camp with limited recreational facilities in the middle of nowhere, being fed maggot-infested food.
“The site has an abysmal safety record — it’s an absolute pressure cooker right now.
“I know workers are considering downing tools if things don’t improve.
“I know many of our members are living off canned tuna and two-minute noodles, because they know it’s unsafe to eat what’s served up by the caterers.
“The problem is the joint venture who was awarded the contract is pinching every penny they can to try and improve their profit margin.
“So they’ve been cutting every corner they can on food, on safety, and on everything else.
“Every week we’re getting reports of serious safety issues on the site including a number of near-death incidents.
“Blokes getting run over by vehicles backing up because they’re relying on hand signals instead of radio.
“Equipment that’s been tagged as unsafe having that tag removed by supervisors to speed things up.
“Industrial drills almost impaling people because proper communication and supervision isn’t in place.
“The whole site’s a tragedy waiting happen, it’s a miracle that no one has been killed already.
“This project is unsustainable like this – the government needs to intervene and crack the whip to make sure people aren’t hurt or killed.”