Stick Together

West gate disaster remembered


Listen Later

This Wednesday the 15th October marks the 55th Anniversary of Australia's worst industrial disaster, the collapse of the Westgate Bridge - the bridge designed to run out of Melbourne to Geelong.35 Workers died in the collapse, and 18 were seriously injured as a result of the 1970 incident, but the design of the bridge was already in doubt beforehand, with a similar bridge having recently come down with worker deaths in the UK.Without the modern emergency service response, the workers were left to dig their comrades bodies out of the rubble. Three days later, they were all sacked. This is an excerpt from the Creatures of the Industry podcast, a 3CR Community Radio project and an oral history of those who made the building and construction industry in Melbourne since the 1960s.Here, survivor of the collapse and industry stalwart Pat Preston gives his first-hand account of the disaster and its aftermath... plus industry standards at the time, other near-misses on the bridge, and the pay and conditions fought and won on that job.This extended interview features the voices of Peter Clarke, and Creatures of the Industry Podcast host, Ralph Edwards. You can find the full extended interview with Pat Preston, plus all episodes and stories over at 3cr.org.au/cotiToday, after this episode is first broadcast in Melbourne on Wednesday Morning, families and supporters will gather in a yearly memorial organised by the Westgate Bridge Memorial Committee under the bridge on Douglas Parade in Spotswood.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Stick TogetherBy Annie McLoughlin, James Brennan, Tobia Severi.

  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3

3

2 ratings


More shows like Stick Together

View all
Earth Matters by Bec Horridge, Claudia Craig, Mia Audrey & Keiran Stewart-Assheton.

Earth Matters

0 Listeners

Anarchist World This Week by Dr Joe Toscano

Anarchist World This Week

14 Listeners

AM by ABC News

AM

16 Listeners

Asia Pacific Currents by Australia Asia Worker Links

Asia Pacific Currents

2 Listeners

YarraBUG by Chris, Faith, Val and Steve

YarraBUG

0 Listeners

Out of the Pan by Sally Goldner

Out of the Pan

0 Listeners

Beyond Zero - Science and Solutions by Members of Beyond Zero Emissions

Beyond Zero - Science and Solutions

0 Listeners

Radioactive Show by Emma Crunch, Michaela Stubbs, Sam Gibbard & Johan Kettle.

Radioactive Show

1 Listeners

Tuesday Hometime by Jan Bartlett

Tuesday Hometime

1 Listeners

Renegade Economists by Karl Fitzgerald

Renegade Economists

13 Listeners

Women on the Line by Cleis Hart, Kannagi Bhatt, Phuong Tran, Xen Nhà & Scheherazade Bloul.

Women on the Line

1 Listeners

Full Story by The Guardian

Full Story

165 Listeners