Film Daily (1947)

r uesday, June 24, 1947 DAILY Hex. Industry Faces 50% Pay Till Demand i Continued from Page 1) •esjrfesterday. Calling 50 per cent jm jftrarily chosen "bargaining" JTin.. 'Niebla said he expected labor .ould settle for less, possibly 30 : ear cent as they did two years ago, iter settling for 15 per cent four ears ago. Niebla described the wage talks as ~ nything but acrimonious, with both Sensitive gringoes will be saved '.'_ rom viewing any gore in the bull ight scenes in M-G-M's "Fiesta" and he SPCA will also be able to relax. !]jat for Mexican consumption, addi ional footage has been shot to satisfy the aficionados and to provide ■he proper coup de grace to the chief ctor. While Mexico's own Produc ion Code is similar to ours insofar ' s morals are concerned, they won't ettle for any fooling around with '■' heir national sport. <r . . . . . -^ ^^. — w . aities waiting for a chance to get . ogether and arrive at a compromise. '.'.'he "agitation period" is over, he ided. y Explaining Mexico's recent pro uction stoppage for 30 days, Niebla . xplained that banks had stopped ; _nding money except to agriculture. Vith private capital stepping in, and Jf etors voluntarily taking a 25 per ^■ent cut, the stagehands offering to >ioduce more to equal 25 per cent I aving, the industry is humming once ffl gain. Niebla described Mexican produc Taft-Hartley Bill Becomes Law Prods. Gain Advantage in Studio Strike 911 2 ion as arriving at a plateau after ™ riginal spurts of as much as 120 ims a year. Mexican producers are ;; ow trying for better and fewer pictures, he said. The goal now is ppioximately 50 pictures a year, Scattered among some ten producers. ,* Loew's have set a policy of send\: ig all dubbed pictures to Mexico, "~ . hile other companies still send two ersions. Niebla claimed that dubbed lms were proving more popular in :>cations where the patronage wasn't Ms international as in Mexico City, ^"lor example. 3 . im Tully Dead i" West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Tf Hollywood — Jim Tully, 59, novel :, st and scenario writer, died at the lierjveekend after a lengthy illness. He Appeared briefly in films as an actor. SI 5,000.000 Mexican Film Gross in 1946 Mexico City (By Air Mail) — The people of Mexico are reported to have spent 76 million pesos — about $15 million — on movie admissions the past year. This is a jump of 20 million pesos over the statistics from two years previously, and indicates a rapidly-growing distributors' market. (Continued tion's statute books, in brief, outlaws the closed shop and places tight restrictions on the union shop, make unions subject to charges of unfair labor practices and to suits for damages and prohibits not only jurisdictional strikes but secondary boycotts. Industry lawyers here said the law may mean a crack in the Hollywood strike front. Although many industry leaders now term the present strike "ineffective," the law apparently gives producers a weapon for use in any crippling strikes in the future. Under terms of the bill, producers caught in a jurisdictional strike may seek relief in the courts or through the National Labor Relations Board. Although the featherbedding provisions of the bill as finally passed are vague, industry lawyers believe LABOR TO FIGHT Organized labor, both AFL and CIO. plans to quickly challenge the provisions of the Tuft-Hartley law in the courts, it was learned luxt night. The AFL, additionally, will campaign for its repeal. The CIO executive board will meet in Washington Friday to map its action. Meanwhile the VAC indicated it will oppose at the polls those who voted for the law. that the power of James C. Petrillo, AFM president, in Hollywood may be curtailed. Supreme Court action on the Lea bill also may affect the labor situation in Hollywood. This act prohibits forcing broadcasters to hire more workers than they need to perform actual radio station services. (Justice Hugo L. Black delivered the Supreme Court's 5-3 decision. Justice Stanley F. Reed dissented and was joined by Justices Frank Murphy and Wiley Rutledge. Justice William 0. Douglas took no part. Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote an opinion concurring with the majority on technical phases of the ruling. .The Court, however, returned the case of Petrillo back to the Chicago trial court for new proceedings.) That the bill will have widespread effect on the motion picture industry was little doubted here. Whether the bill will solve the countless labor problems of the industry, however, is another question. AFL President William Green said, that the AFL "will launch an immediate campaign for the prompt repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act." Provisions of the bill expected to have direct effect on the industry are those: Prohibiting jurisdictional strikes; banning "featherbedding" practices; outlawing future closed shop contracts; prohibiting secondary boycotts; making unions liable for unfair labor practices; re from Page 1) quiring certification that a union represents a majority of workers. Jurisdictional strikes long have plagued Hollywood. The present strike is only one of a series of jurisdictional disputes which have beset the film capital for many years. Hollywood has more craft unions with criss-crossing jurisdictions than perhaps any other industry. Charges of "featherbedding" have long been leveled at several AFL unions there, including IATSE and the AFM. A House labor sub-committee has been holding hearings in Hollywood on alleged labor abuses and racketeering. Company reps, have charged that jurisdictional battles and featherbedding practices have sent prices zooming and left a long trail of unrest in their wake. Commenting on the bill, the AFL prexy said that the "new law will not promote industrial peace. On the contrary, it will force widespread warfare." Hartley-Taft Law May Stymie AAAA Bid to Organize Tele Campaign of the AAAA unions to organize the television industry may come a cropper because of yesterday's refusal of the Senate to uphold President Truman's veto of the Hartley-Taft bill. "Equity," official organ of Actors' Equity, in a report of the executive secretary in the June issue, told of progress made by AAAA in organizing the field. Pointing out that television cuts across every jurisdictional line in the entertainment field, report held that "If any field ever required a joint organizational effort, this is it." Report told of a realization that the various AAAA unions must compose their differences in the instance of television, and solicited information from Equity members of any television engagements. However, the report was concluded as follows: "Of course this whole campaign would be impossible if the Hartley-Taft Bill were law, for under it if Equity, Chorus Equity, AFRA, AGVA, AGMA and SAG were to sit down and talk together about television conditions that would be conspiracy and we would all probably land in jail." H'wood Labor Experts Optimistic for Studio Workers West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Los Angeles — Studio labor experts do not expect Taft-Hartley Bill to have any immediate effect on studio relations with labor. They point out that studios have contracts with most of unions providing for closed shop, and existing contracts are not affected by new measure. They believe unions in general will wait for a test case with the Newspaper Guild reported anxious to test the bill and ask United States Supreme Court to pass on legality of the measure. TAFT-HARTLEY TIME TABLE The Taft-Hartley law time table provides these effective dates for provisions of more direct interest to the Him industry: IMMEDIATELY Damage suits may be filed against unions far breach of contract, jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts. New union welfare funds can be established only for purposes specified in the law and only if employers participate in their administration. Unions cannot spend money or make contributions in connection with political campaigns for federal offices. IN 60 DAYS Unions become subject to charges of unfair labor practices for coercion of employes, refusal to bargain and other offenses. Jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts are forbidden and can be enjoined at the request of the National Labor Relations Board. Closed shop provisions are barred in i.ew contracts. Union shop provisions are allowed in new contracts only if favored by a majority of a plant's employes in a vote conducted by the NLRB. Neither unions nor employers are alUwed to terminate a contract without a 60-day notice; a strike or lockout is barred until after the 60-day period. Both employers and employes are given greater latitude in asking NLRB elections to determine whether a union must be recognized or decertified. Unions must file detailed reports on finances and internal affairs with the Labor Department. Execs, in unions seeking NLRB recognition must file affidavits disclaiming membership in the Communist party or groups favoring overthrow of the government by force. NLRB must revamp its structure along specified lines to divorce prosecuting and quasi judicial functions. MISCELLANEOUS Existing closed and union shop requirements of contracts remain effective until the agreements expire. Any closed or union shop contracts signed within the next 60 days cannot remain in force for more than one year. Union welfare funds established before Jan. 1, 1946, are exempt from the act. Restrictions do not apply to welfare funds now in operation until current contracts expire on or before July 1, 1948, whichever is earlier. Widow, Two Sons, Willed Cohen Theater Circuit Detroit — Mrs. Sylvia Cohen and her two sons, Elliott and Barry, will inherit the two-thirds interest in the Cohen Theater Circuit owned by the late Lou Cohen. The two sons already owned a sixth share each in the business, bequeathed to them by an uncle, Ben Cohen, in 1944. No changes in operating policy are planned. Ohio Drive-In Using 16mm. Films, Equip. McCutchenville, O. — Initial Drive!n theater in this area to use 16 mm. films exclusively was opened last week by M. E. Brandt, former operator of the Grafton, Grafton, 0. Seneca Drive-In has two RCA projectors equipped with an automatic changeover. Pictures are projected on a 16 by 13-foot screen with an 83-foot throw. Without in-car speakers, the Seneca is at the mercy of the weather. Academy Film Service of Cleveland furnishes 16 mm. features and shorts used.