Broadmeadows Assembly Plant

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Broadmeadows Assembly Plant was a Ford car factory in Campbellfield, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It opened in 1959 and covered about 45 acres. In 2011 it employed around 2,088 workers.

One notable event was a large strike in 1973 by mostly migrant workers. They protested unsafe and unsanitary conditions and Ford’s refusal to hire more workers, including a ban on female workers. The strikers faced police but won broad community support, with the Glaziers Union refusing to fix broken windows, doctors offering free clinics, and the local Greek Orthodox Church contributing to strike funds. The strike achieved its aims.

There was a second strike in 1981 led by local members of the Vehicle Builders Employees Federation, but federal union members moved quickly to end it.

The Broadmeadows Assembly Plant closed on 7 October 2016 after Ford stopped manufacturing in Australia. In 2019 the site was sold to the Pelligra Group, which plans to redevelop it as Assembly Broadmeadows, an industrial estate.