Film and TV Technician (1957)

42 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN March 1957 A.G.M. (Continued) people in the industry were unhappy about it, thinking it had been shelved or forgotten. If they had been told of what was being done, or if that was difficult, even of the number of meetings that had been held they would at least know what was going on. Desmond Davis, agreeing with the mover and seconder, said our record over this Agreement had not been good but there were very good reasons for this, and it was no good belly-aching about the past. He, too, urged the need for a " cracking good Organiser ". Organise in the Shops Leon Clore said one could not always put in resolutions to the incoming General Council and Executive giving them the responsibility for the drive for membership; that was really the responsibility of people on the floor. One could not always refer it back. He stressed the need for organising in the Shops themselves. Kurt Lewenhak stressed that A.C.T.T. was a national union with nation-wide responsibilities, and it must organise as such. He, too, strongly urged the need for monthly visits to provincial centres and suggested that it might be possible for A.C.T.T. to establish some kind of regional office which could be used as a base for an Organiser who could cover Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland. Alf Cooper welcomed the new blood and fresh faces in A.C.T.T. and the enthusiasm of the Television members. He agreed that they needed staff representation from Head Office and the support of the General Council. He referred to early experiences in the Laboratories and Studios and urged that members in TV " must fight like hell ", and then at the next A.G.M. they would not be talking about getting an agreement but about getting improvements in the agreement they had obtained in the meantime. The resolution, which was supported by the General Council, was carried unanimously. TV AGREEMENT Another resolution on Television (No. 17), moved by Desmond Davis, reaffirmed A.C.T.T.'s policy of 100% membership in the appropriate grades in television, noted that negotiations between the Programme Contractors and A.C.T.T. were progressing but regretted the delay in coming to a final agreement. It also drew the attention of the Postmaster-General and the T.U.C. to the fact that the B.B.C. still refused to recognise A.C.T.T. in the Television field. The resolution pledged wholehearted support to the incoming General Council and the Television membership in any action deemed necessary for the establishment of Trade Union standards in this field of work. Moving the resolution, Desmond Davis said OFFICERS ELECTED FOR 1957 President: Anthony Asquith Vice-Presidents : Max Anderson Alf Cooper Sidney Cole Desmond Davis Terry O'Brien Charles Wheeler Treasurer: Frank Fuller General Council: Ralph Bond Chris Brunei Kenneth Gordon Desmond Dickinson Walter Lassally Fred Swann Lindsay Anderson Derek Twist Monica Toye George Irons Len Runkel Ray Sharpe Sid Bremson Bill Whittemore Harold Clayton Tony Shine Ken Roberts Trustees: Geoffrey Bell Basil Wright the membership strength in Television was growing apace but one must not be content with less than 100% membership. They must work hard, then they could talk real turkey, and they wanted to talk. They must have a wellorganised recruiting drive and they must have missionary zeal from individual members. " It is up to you personally to get this 100' ; membership," he said. Referring to the negotiations for an agreement with the Programme Contractors he said this was a matter of the most ghastly complexity. It was not a question of an agreement with one organisation but with five separate organisations, each with a different method of working and a different scale of pay and different grades. " So we never know what the devil we're talking about." Referring to the B.B.C.'s refusal to recognise A.C.T.T., he said that the B.B.C. hit with a manicured hand. When we went to the B.B.C. and said that we represented 60' , of their employees working in the grade of Cameraman and we wished to be recognised, they replied that they had no grade of Cameraman, the gentlemen who operated their cameras were Engineers of a certain grade. " This, of course, is no more than a barefaced fiddle with words and I call upon the incoming General Council to take firm measures to put an end to this." Tony Shine, seconding, referred to the negotiations for an Agreement and said that although the first draft had been torn up on the spot by the Executive they had at last got something and every section would have to see it before it went back to the Programme Contractors. A Cast Iron Case George Elvin said that he felt he could not go back to his hospital supper without speaking on one resolution, and he had chosen this particular one. Desmond Davis had said that A.C.T.T. had a cast-iron case for being recognised by the B.B.C. in Television. " We must take a lesson from the Musicians' Union and Equity who equally had this problem and faced up to it by action. The Musicians' Union sought recognition not by arguing but by a threatened stoppage on the job and we must be as militant in order to be recognised. We must have a similar showdown with the B.B.C. to that which the Musicians and Equity had." In the Laboratories agreements were taken for granted, but they were not taken for granted as far as Television was concerned. " We have got to work hard in the next few months to get through in Television the same sort of agreements as in films." Bert Craik hoped that members would not get too despondent because the Programme Contractors were still talking to us. " It is we who have held up negotiations. They submitted to us, after talks with our side, a draft Agreement which the Executive were not happy about and we had spent four weekends amending it," he said. We had completed our work (Continwi <l mi /<n</< 46)