The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

THE CINE-TECHNICIAN The Journal of The Association of Cine-Technicians forial & Publishing Office: 9, BROMEFIELD, STANMORE, MIDDLESEX, vertisement Office: 5 & 6, RED LION SQUARE, LONDON, W.C.I. Telephone: EDGWARE3119 Telephone: HOLBORN 4972 Associate Editors : Barrel Catling, Sidney Cole, George H. Elvin, Kenneth Gordon, Frank Sainsbury. jmber Forty-one, Volume Nine March— April, 1943 Price One Shilling STUDIO rECHNICIANS' CHARTER V.C.T signs Agreement with the British Film Producers Association by GEORGE H. ELVIN SOON after I became A.C.T.'s General Secretary, nine years ago, the General Council set itself an ambitious programme on behalf of film technicians, of whom in those days only 88 were organised. Many of those points were achieved a long time ago, so long in fact that the present membership never remembers being without them. I refer to such matters as affiliation to the T.U.C., establishment of a proper Employment Bureau, and publication of a Journal. These were, of course, only a means to an end : the last point in that initial programme, the complete organisation of film technicians within A.C.T. and the safeguard of their wages and conditions through the negotiation of standard agreements. At last we can say the initial programme which we set ourselves has been attained with the finalisation of the standard studio agreement. Who of those 88 members in those far-off days would have dreamt that within less than ten years so much would have been accomplished? I feel it necessary to say this because now that our membership is approaching the 3,000 mark some members do tend to take things for granted and often expect the goods to be delivered by the mere passing of a resolution. Agreements are only obtained as a result of hard work pursued over a period of time. The laboratory and shorts agreements were not easy to attain but they were child's play compared with the studio one. How Signing The Agreement From left to right : SIDNEY COLE, RALPH BOND, GEORGE H. ELVIN and CHARLIE WHEELER. many members remember the history of it? Seven years ago A.C.T. first approached studio employers. They had no organisation and had to be approached .individually. Our approach brought them together and a meeting was held with the Film Group of the Federation of British Industries. No progress was made, and we had to return to approaching individual studios. Gaumont-British were receptive and finally an agreement was negotiated. A.C.T. was not too happy about this agreement but it was invaluable as much for the recognition of the principle of collective bargaining for film technicians as for the actual provisions in the agreement. Nevertheless, the latter did provide many improvements for G.B. technicians and gave A.C.T. a weapon with which to attack those other producers who weir not so aware of their social obligations. Eventually the studios and producers got together in another organisation, the Film Production Employers' Federation, and negotiations for a general collective agreement were commenced. Before fchey were completed, that body transposed itseli into the British Film Production Association, and still another start was made. In time, this body went the way of its forerunners just as the A.C.T. Studio Agreement was about to be finalised. Again we resorted to local negotiations, and with the stalwart help of members in each studio forced through the overtime agreements. By now the