In 1933 any benefits from the
incipient boom in production remained unshared by British film technicians,
whose hours were long, whose pay was low, and who felt threatened by an influx
of émigrés. Talk of a union, mostly centring on the Gaumont-British studio in
Shepherd's Bush, led to a first General Meeting in May, and in June the
Association of Cine-Technicians was registered as a trade union. (It is worth
noting that the ACT was preceded by the Kine Cameraman's Society, a 'social
organisation', not a union as such, founded in 1918.) Initially the membership
of around 1,200, entrance fee 2/6d (12 1/2p), looked promising, but it quickly
collapsed in the absence of discernible benefits. By the time George Elvin was
appointed General Secretary in January 1934, less than a quarter of the 80-odd
remaining members were fully paid-up and three months' rent was owed for the
office. Although the situation remained precarious, this was a turning point. In
May 1935, a journal, the Cine-Technician (later the Film &
Television Technician, then Stage Screen & Radio), was being
published, while in December 1936 the union affiliated with the TUC and the
first industrial agreement was made with Gaumont-British. However, the industry
was largely ramshackle. In the absence of employers' federations elusive,
fly-by-night producers had to be tackled individually but the Laboratory Branch
(1936) increasingly provided industrial clout with the threat of
strike.
May 1937 saw Anthony Asquith elected
as President, an office he held until his death in 1968. Elvin, Asquith
(assisted by his mother, the redoubtable Margot) and the membership at large ran
a magnificent campaign to influence the 1938 Cinematograph Films Act, replacing
the infamous 1927 'Quota Quickies' legislation and introducing a fair wages
clause. After the outbreak of war in 1939, ACT found its standing hugely
improved. It was influential in persuading the government that film work was
vital to the war effort, and was made the vetting body for 'reserved'
technicians (leading not surprisingly to a membership boom). The arrival of
peace led to a brief period of full employment, but by 1949 the industry's
decline saw an increasing casualisation of labour, which has continued to this
day.
Commercial television was introduced
into England in 1955. After initial opposition, the union became, in March 1956,
the Association of Cinematograph Television & Allied Technicians. The
following year agreement was reached with the Programme Contractors Association
and for the next thirty years Independent Television membership supplied
considerable industrial and financial strength as the film industry measurably
shrank.
By the end of the '80s reducing
membership (at its peak about 30,000), financial weakness, anti-union
legislation, the loss of the closed shop, technological change, Luddite
tendencies, industry fragmentation and hostile management were all threatening
ACTT's position. Survival required a broader base and in January 1991 the
Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph & Theatre Union (BECTU) was formed
by amalgamation with the Broadcasting & Entertainment Trades Alliance
(BETA), itself derived from the Association of Broadcasting Staff (ABS) and the
National Association of Theatrical Television and Kine Employees (NATTKE, whose
origin dated back to 1890). This successor union represents diverse workers
(half of whom are now freelance) in most areas of the cinema, television, video,
theatre and leisure activity industries. Roy Fowler, Encyclopedia of British Cinema
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