The Cine Technician (1953-1956)

52 CINE TECHNICIAN April 1956 The General Secretary Writes On The B.F.P.A. AGREEMENT IN last September's CINE TECH■*■ NICIAN I gave a history of our failure to reach agreement with the British Film Producers' Association for long overdue salary increases and other adjustments to our members' working conditions mainly because of the B.F.P.A.'s persistent refusal to recognise the right of certain of A.C.T.'s members to any increases since 1947. DIFFICULTIES SURMOUNTED At last, as members will now know, these difficulties have been surmounted and the adjustments to the B.F.P.A. Agreement operating from the 26th March, 1956, met all the main points of principle which have been the keystone of our approaches to the B.F.P.A. These are: (1) All grades for which there are minimum rates in the Agreement must be covered; some of these have not been increased since the main Agreement was signed nine years ago; (2) Some redress for those members not entitled to payment for overtime; and (3) A.C.T.'s right, in the absence of joint machinery, to negotiate its own case and not merely to be told " take it or leave it ", and that the employers' offer " could only be in line with their negotiations with other unions ". It is difficult to say what led to the B.F.P.A.'s change of heart but we think it is mainly because the resolutions tabled for our recent Annual General Meeting and the speeches in support of them at that Meeting shattered the views expressed by B.F.P.A. representatives at previous meetings that the A.C.T. demands were just a whim of a few ' difficult ' officers of the Union and showed clearly that they were, in fact, the very strong demand of the membership as a whole. DETAILS CIRCULATED Full details of the settlement have been circulated to Shop Stewards and can be summarised here by saying that it provides for a minimum increase of £1 a week (apart from members under 21 years of age who receive twothirds of this figure) and an increase of £3 to £4 in the minimum rates of those grades which have not been raised since 1947. In addition, those members who are above the ceiling which entitles them to receive payment for overtime will receive a supper allowance of 10/ should overtime work be called for and worked up to or beyond the normal supper break. This applies both to studio work and on location except, in the latter case, where meals are provided. Naturally all the consequential adjustments have been made so that certain benefits in the Agreement for which there is a ceiling henceforth apply at a level which is raised by the amount of the new increases. CLARIFICATION At the same time we asked the B.F.P.A., and they readily agreed, to clarify certain points in the operation of the Agreement on which there is still some confusion. Accordingly they have issued circulars to their members on these points and particularly they have reiterated the provisions of Clause 13 of the Agreement, with special emphasis on the editing and dubbing departments, which lays down that productions shall be scheduled on the basis of 44 hours per week. In other words, the only overtime worked shall be essential and emergency overtime agreed, of course, at local level. The benefits of the settlement outside the B.F.P.A. should also not be overlooked. A.C.T.'s policy with the Television Programme Contractors' Association and the Association of Specialised Film Producers bears additional fruit as a result of this settlement, and in all cases where members in these fields are entitled to remuneration under the terms of the B.F.P.A. Agreement they also will benefit. OVERWHELMINGLY ENDORSED A specially summoned meeting of the Feature Branch overwhelmingly endorsed the settlement which is so satisfactory not only in itself but in the acceptance by the B.F.P.A. of the principles referred to at the beginning of this article. At the same time it would be churlish not to record that once the main barriers had been broken down a settlement was speedily concluded and John Davis, President of the B.F.P.A., who attended one of the crucial meetings with our representatives, has written to me expressing pleasure that a solution has been found to the deadlock between the two associations and hoping that both sides will be able to look forward to a more friendly relationship than has existed for several years. CINE TECHNICIAN Editor: MARTIN CHISHOLM Editorial Office: 2 Soho Square, W.l Telephone: GERrard 8506 Advertisement Office: 5 and 6 Red Lion Sq., W.C.I Telephone: HOLborn 4972