Unions step up bid to save historic Melbourne pub

The fight to save an iconic Melbourne pub has ramped up, with unions today declaring a ‘green ban’ on the John Curtain Hotel in Collingwood.

They’re trying to stop the pub from being bulldozed to make way for apartments.

Under the green ban, several unions including the CFMEU will advise all members against working on the site following its sale to an overseas buyer.

Similar bans have saved the Melbourne City Baths, Princess Theatre, Hotel Windsor, Flinders Street Station and the Queen Victoria Market from development.

Secretary of Victorian Trades Hall, Luke Hilkari, says the union movement are “not opposed to development”.

“We want to make sure the nature of what goes on in there, so it’s a pub and it’s a live music venue, one of the few in Carlton, that gets protected,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“If people are thinking about doing a development that’s sort of set back, it goes up the back and there’s some offices or lecturing space, or something like that, we’re not going to have an issue with that.”

The building was put on the market in February and sold to an offshore developer.

Prior to its sale, the City of Melbourne granted the pub an interim “significant” heritage listing, meaning the heritage value of the building must be considered in any proposed redevelopment.

The pub has in the past been a meeting place for Labor and union figures, including Bob Hawke. The venue is named after wartime Labor Prime Minister John Curtin and situated across the road from Victorian Trades Hall.

Press PLAY below to hear how the fight to save the Curtain is tracking