Battersea remembers crane disaster

Trade unionists in London stood in silence at a vigil in Battersea on Saturday (26 Sept) to remember a crane collapse that claimed the lives of two people.

This year marked the twentieth anniversary of the Battersea Crane Disaster where a crane working on a Barratt Homes construction site on Thessaly Road, next to Battersea Power Station site, collapsed killing the operative and a member of the public.

Unite and the Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Council (BWTUC) marked the anniversary by launching a campaign calling on the government to reinstate the Notification of Conventional Tower Cranes Regulations 2010, which were repealed in 2013.

On 26th September 2006 at 5.30 pm there was a catastrophic failure of the 165ft tower crane which took the innocent lives of crane operator Jonathan Cloke, who died at the controls, and local bus driver Michael Alexa, who was crushed whilst changing a wheel on his car in the street below.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation later revealed that the collapse had been caused by metal fatigue across 24 slew ring bolts. Crucially, Falcon Crane Hire Ltd had failed to properly investigate a similar bolt shear on the exact same crane just nine weeks prior, exposing an inadequate and unacceptable system of fleet inspection and maintenance.

At the Crane Memorial Garden in Battersea wreaths to Jonathan and Michael were laid and a number of speakers addressed the gathering of friends, family, trade union members and activists.

Fighting back tears Liliana Alexa, mother of son Michael, thanked people for attending and said, “I want people to remember a young man who loved life, who loved his family and who loved his little son with all his heart.

“They were robbed of the chance to spend a lifetime together.”

Liliana has joined others in calling on the government to reinstate regulations around the Crane Register urgently.

Kevin Williamson, Secretary of Unite London Building Workers Branch explained, “We are asking our MPs to bring this up and bring it back on the statute books. We already have the support of Marsha, the local MP, and as Unite we will be pushing for this to be supported in Parliament.”

The MP Kevin mentioned was Marsha De Cordova who represents Battersea and addressed the gathering, saying that she wanted nobody in Batersea, or the wider country, to forget what happened twenty years ago.

Marsha is supporting the Unite and BWTUC campaign and said, “Sadly when the coalition government came into power in 2010 they repealed this regulation, basically saying that they wanted to get rid of red tape.

“Well frankly the safety and protection of our workers should not be down to the detriment of wanting to get rid of red tape. So I am really pleased to welcome and support the campaign to re-introduce legislation so that all workers are protected, and also make sure that we have transparency and accountability within the construction sector.”

Also in attendance were a number of the victims’ former work colleagues.

Paul Ainsworth worked with Michael as a bus driver, he said, I started in Stockwell Garage in 2003, and on my first day of route learning I went out with Michael.

“I was brand new to the job, I was a bit trepid, a bit frightened, but I came home and I’d never laughed so much.He was a ray of sunshine, and when this happened it was just awful. The whole garage really felt for the family, for the loss, for Jonathan’s family – it was so avoidable.

“They should make sure this never happens again.”

Unite national officer Declan Murphy spoke not only as a trade unionist, but also as a former colleague of crane driver Jonathan, and said that “red tape” is what protects people’s families, friends and fellow trade union members.

Declan added “I urge everyone to get behind this campaign and reinstate this vital piece of legislation and stop this ever happening again.”

Unite Live will be following the campaign as it develops over the coming months.

By Keith Hatch

Photos by Mark Thomas