On this day in 1962 it was reported that guests of a hostel in Canberra had taken matters into their own hands, cooking themselves their meals when the cooks went on strike the day prior.
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The cooks at Reid House had issued an ultimatum, saying that unless their new roster was cancelled and reverted to the old one, they would walk out. This ultimatum was issued half an hour before the 320 guests at the house were scheduled to be served lunch.
Five members of staff of Commonwealth Hostels Ltd had stepped up to take the place of the cooks, as well as four guests at the hostel. They served the guests in a record time of 15 minutes.
Guests had high praise for the fill-in cooks, saying the meal was better than usual, more was served and the service was better.
But not all were happy with the change - one man refused to eat his meal after seeing it served by other guests.
"It's not the Australian thing to do to scab on your mates when they are on strike," he said.
