The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

56 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN April 1954 Ted Cutlock, by Land Spring weather greeted the pickets when they started their vigils outside the six closed labs on Monday morning — a few police were there as well, but they didn't have any work to do either. In the A.C.T. Committee Room " General " Jack Lucas, Deputy Acting Steward of Humphries, outlined the rota system they had arranged : four pickets on two-hour shifts from the whole staff, men and women, during the daytime only; they weren't going to have any on nights unless this became necesary. Jack Lucas, whose bright, bespectacled face many on the production side know from popping into the Humphries Despatch Dept., was confident that his members, none of whom had passed the picket line, would see the dispute through, whatever happened. From a man who has worked there twenty-three years his few words carried a whole world of conviction. Another long-service man was Bill Masters, Cinex Test Dept., in his twenty-eighth year of darkroom work at Olympic and Humphries. Normally on nights, he was getting a bit of sun and air on day picket. " Every manjack at Humphries," he said, " has put himself out for the management at one time or another. The management are always saying Vow proud they are of the staff, but they are hardly showing their gratefulness now." Ted Cutlock, Colour Neg Developer, nineteen years at Humphries, added : " Mr. Bland's answers at the meeting of the staff the other day on the company's finances were particularly evasive, and when tackled on any particular point, said the company ' Couldn't answer,' and that their profits were no concern of ours." Some of the Humphries committee members — one from each dept. — and the pickets were relaxing with the Pathe pickets in A.C.T.'s head office Committee Room. All were cheerful, but one young man especially so : he was " Handsome " Bill Newman, and he'd won the Pathe" football swindle. He'd just been pulling the leg of a Daily Sketch reporter, who had been told that Bill had won a three-figure sum on the pools. But he had to tell the reporter it was only a modest four quid. With the air of the man who has been dealing with questioners all his life, he gave me his considered opinion : " With my winnings I have absolute confidence in the future — at least I won't have to look for work for one more week!" His Steward, Deryk Webb, was around all the time and in his quiet and efficient manner gave advice and encouragement not only to his own pickets but to the Humphries members as well. Head Office was the centre of seething activity all the time, and every single member of the staff shouldered the extra burdens with enthusiasm : Bunny Garner, for instance, came from his sick bed to keep the wheels oiled and make out the pay packets for those on strike; Pat O'Connor, George Elvin's secretary, rose to the occasion magnificently, as did the three in the typists' room — Helen Benin ont, Joan Fowler (whose husband was locked out from Olympic) and Sylvia Tremlett, who all worked on late to get out the piles of duplicating needed; Mrs. Flo Farsky from the Records Office (a member of the Clerical & Administrative Workers' Union), went to her branch meeting the first day and got a £4 donation for the dispute funds, and those counties hundreds who phoned up Gerrard 8506 know how Sylvia Marsh on the switchboard performed miracles with never-failing courtesy. Harry Middleton arranged an excellent wall newspaper in the front entrance with stills of the mass meeting, the letters of solidarity from such as the French Technicians' Union, the Ealing Joint Works Committee, and that pioneer A.C.T. stalwart now out of films, Leo Cass. Money-raising figured prominently in the work with Fred Richie, Deputy Steward of Pathe, Wardour Street, sending out George Elvin's appeal to all Unions affiliated to the T.U.C., and " Gillie " Coventry, Unemployed Section Representative on the Executive, doing volunteer work in sending out more appeals to local Union branches. Deryk Webb, by I. and