Radio doco on 1973 strike

BY JASON DI ROSSO

ABC Radio National's Hindsight program will present a 60-minute
documentary on the 1973 strike by workers at Ford's Broadmeadows plant,
near Melbourne.

In the program, former metalworkers' union leader Laurie Carmichael
describes the militant strike as a “match lit on wages that set off a conflagration”.
Giovanni Sgro from FILEF, the Italian Migrant Workers' Federation and their
Families, explains how the “bosses couldn't believe that migrants who barely
spoke English could be so militant, more militant than their union”.

The 1973 dispute became infamous for the “riot” that took place at Ford's
Broadmeadows plant when striking workers refused to accept a compromise
pay rise offer from Ford management and return to work after a three-and-a-half-week
strike. The militancy of a section of the ranks outflanked that of union
leadership and forced a continuation of the strike. The workers were successful
in obtaining an increase above Ford's offer.

The dispute is also remembered for the inter-ethnic solidarity of the
predominantly migrant workforce that became an inspiration for those involved
in the struggle for a progressive, multicultural Australia. The Hindsight
program includes interviews with Italian, Greek, Egyptian and Turkish migrant
workers and migrant activists.

Hindsight will air on September 22 at 2pm, repeated on
September 26 at 1pm. For more information, visit <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/history/history.htm>.
For Radio National frequencies in regional Australia, visit <http://www.abc.net.au/rn/freq/map.htm>.

From Green Left Weekly, September 18, 2002.

Visit the Green Left Weekly
home page. 

From GLW issue 509