People's History of Australia
Ep 8 – The 1973 Ford Broadmeadows riot
In June 1973, the Ford Motor Company's factory in Broadmeadows, Melbourne, exploded with protest. Thousands of migrant workers, who were subject to brutal working conditions and racist company management, staged a 12-week strike, and when their own union officials attempted to force them back to work, they rioted and smashed up the factory - in the process winning huge wage increases and basic respect. In this episode, we speak with Frank Argondizzo, who took part in the strike and was a union activist at Ford for 25 years.