On 13 February I again had the great honour to lay a wreath in remembrance of our City of Sydney council members Alec Carter and William Favell who were killed when emptying the contents of rubbish bins on George Street into the back of a garbage truck in 1978.
Garbage truck driver Bill Ebb and fellow council worker John Watson were also injured.
The bomb, placed in a garbage bin outside the Hilton Hotel on George Street, was targeting a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, with (then) Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and eleven visiting heads of state in the hotel at the time.
Several members of the NSW Police, who were guarding the hotel, were struck by shrapnel, with Constable Paul Burmistriw passing away in hospital from his injuries.
Mr Carter and Mr Favell were both long-time members of the Municipal Employees Union — now the United Services Union — and by 8am on the day of the blast the union launched a national appeal to support their families.
Our union and members vowed never to forget … and we have not – and never will.
47 years may seem like a lifetime ago but remembering these members who lost their lives simply because they went to work cannot be forgotten.
It reminds us of the countless number of workers who are killed or injured at work. It reminds us that unions can never stop being vigilant when it comes to health and safety at work – that is a fight worth having because no one should lose their life because they went to work.
I ask you, next time you are in the Sydney CBD to visit the plaque that pays tribute to the men. It is outside the Hilton Hotel in George St, just opposite the Queen Victoria Building and remember Alec, William, Bill and John as well as Constable Paul Burmistriw. It is a special place of remembrance – and one we will never forget.
FIND OUT MORE:
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| Read the Counsellor here No 2, 1978 “Hilton Appeal Fund closes” |
Read the Counsellor here Summer, 1991 “Caring for bomb victims’ children” |
Read Unite here History of the MEU “The Hilton Bombing” |
