Film and TV Technician (1957)

28 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN February 1957 Letters to the Editor IS IT OUR BUSINESS? I should like to take up Vivian Milroy's estimation that Unions, or our Union, should not criticise TV programmes because " such matters might be said to be outside the province of Trade Unionism ". My annoyance is not that unions should take up very earnestly the art of public relations, for that is what it is, but that our trade union movement doesn't even know the subject, and that to its detriment. As Vivian Milroy will agree, it's the trade union movement which protects and advances the real social and economic interests of the people. Yet on such public relations we are asked to mind our own business. Various American unions have shown their maturity when they express their organised beliefs, not merely through simple press statements or even television, but through films, such as Brotherhood of Man (Automobile Workers' Union). The Japanese unions (N.U.T. & E.T.U.) have campaigned for their members and citizens alike, against the H-bomb tests by sponsoring and producing films on the subject. I hope my brief examples show that there is a principle of importance at stake here, especially in these days when the offensive is against the basic rights of trade unionism, which at least I trust Vivian Milroy accepts. There are a growing number of people who would restrict the interests of Trade Unions to purely working conditions. As to whether the actual Press statement in question was correct or at fault I do not know. But I do agree that our General Council should issue such statements if it considers it in the interests of our members and the public. Yours sincerely, Lewis McLeod. Vivian Milroy in his article seems to forget that the film and I'V industries are more than just businesses — they arc arts as well. Whether they are healthy or not depends on artistic as well as on economic factors, and very often the two are linked. Surely, there fore, it is very much the business of A.C.T. T. to be concerned about what its members help to produce for the cinema and cathode ray screens of the country. This argument is well illustrated by the case of the cinema newsreels, which in their presentation have for a number of years been extremely conservative (in the political sense of the word, too, incidentally); they are very oldfashioned in their choice of subject and in their treatment of these subjects, and this has been one of the major reasons why cinemas are beginning to do without them. Therefore, for aesthetic reasons our newsreel and laboratory members are suffering economically. But I think there is a further point as well : there always seems to me to be very much more satisfaction in turning out a good and worthwhile product, whether it be newsreel, TV programme, feature or short, because both as individuals and as Union members we like to feel proud of what we do. Yours faithfully, Christopher Brunei. General Council in Session TAKE-OVER BY RANK KAY AND OLYMPIC LABS AND PARAMOUNT NEWS. The Acting General Secretary reported that the Manager of Kay Laboratories had been in touch with him regarding the ban on the processing of Sportsmen) for the B.B.C. which had originated at Olympic. Subsequently Kay's had issued a press statement on the matter. Strong rumours of a take-over of Olympic Laboratories and Paramount News by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation were reported, and in view of the problems created, not only in regard to our members at Olympic over the processing of Sportsview, but other problems which might arise including redundancy if the rumours proved correct, the Executive Committee authorised Head Office to take whatever action appeared necessary. It was also agreed that the Legislation Committee should consider at an early date the whole problem of the Rank Organisation in relation to the Monopolies Act. Subsequently an Organiser saw the Manager of Olympic Labs together with the Shop Steward when the changeover to the Rank Organisation was confirmed (see page 27). PARAMOUNT NEWS. The Executive Committee also considered Paramount News, where the members have all been in the company's service for many years and most of them are near retirement age, although they are not covered by any pension scheme. It was agreed that the Acting General Secretary and the Organiser should press for an early meeting with the management to ascertain their intentions, and if the intention is to dispense with the services of any of our members we should press for some form of remuneration by the company equivalent to what the members concerned would have obtained had a pension scheme been operated. The Council was told that Paramount refused to meet A.C.T.T. and discuss compensation for Paramount News staff, and it was agreed to reply that it was our duty to protect our membership and we reserved the right to take any action in the matter; it was also agreed to prepare a case in conjunction with our newsreel members for a public campaign over Paramount's refusal to discuss the problem with the Union. SPORTSVIEW. After considerable discussion of the situation on Sportsvieiv it was agreed that the material for this programme could go to any British laboratory prepared to pay the rates negotiated with A.C.T.T., instead of being sent abroad for processing. The Manager of Rank Laboratories, Denham, was reported as saying that as far as he could see, the take-over of Olympic would not result in any redundancy, but he could not guarantee this. The Council instructed Head Office to seek guarantees for any members shifted from one lab to another. BRITISH ACOUSTIC. The Shop Steward, Bob Langdon, reported to