Film and TV Technician (1957)

December 1957 FILM & TV TECHNICIAN 175 General Council in Session COST OF LIVING BONUS The General Council, at its November meeting, had before it the resolutions of a recent Shorts Section general meeting; the first sought a meeting with the Association of Specialised Film Producers " to raise the question of consolidating the cost of living bonus into the basic wage rate." The Executive and General Council agreed to press for the meeting with the employers' federation. On the initiative of A.C.T.T. members at Rank Screen Services Local Filmlet Studios, the Section drew the Executive's attention to the fact that because Cartoon and Animation members have no equivalent gradings in the B.F.P.A. Agreement, they do not enjoy any increases when doing TV or Advertising work, other than what is laid down in the A.S.F.P. Agreement; it was agreed, as a first step in overcoming this anomaly, to explore the possibilities of incorporating these grades into the B.F.P.A. Agreement with the Federation of British Film Makers and the B.F.P.A. TELEVISION: A drive to organise the I.T.A. Transmitters is being made and, when conditions permit, every effort will be made to organise TV Shops in the B.B.C.; a special " B.B.C. Issue " of the TV bulletin would be prepared shortly after the one which was now at the printers had been sent out. Organiser Paddy Leech reported that a meeting had been arranged between representatives of the Union and Independent Television News to start talks on an agreement for the film side technicians who were at present covered by the Newsreel Agreement. The Organiser had visited Chelsea Palace (Granada TV), where Shop Steward Mike Roberts had convened a meeting of members and where a considerable number of technicians had been recruited. An early meeting was sought with the Station Manager of Television West Wales to arrange for the National Agreement to apply to this station. RADIO AND TELEVISION SAFEGUARDS COMMITTEE. A detailed report of the last two meetings of the Committee was given at which draft notes prepared by Sir Robert Fraser on the British nature of television films had been considered. Sir Robert sought guidance from the meetings, and much progress had been made. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS: The following notice had been circulated by the B.F.P.A. and F.B.F.M. to their member companies: The B.F.P.A. and the Federation of British Film Makers have agreed to recommend to their member companies that the Christmas Holidays for 1957 should be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 25th, 26th and 27th December. Employees who are required to work on Friday, 21th December should be given a day off in lieu. Companies who implement this recommendation may wish to secure an undertaking from em•ployees that, in return for the additional day's holiday on the Friday, a full day's work will be carried out on Tuesday, 24th December. The Executive asked that this matter be raised with the other employers' federations, and the General Council heard that the A.S.F.P. noted the B.F.P.A.F.B.F.M. circular and would leave the matter to individual Shorts employers. FIFTY-SEVEN MEMBERS were registered on the Union's Employment Bureau as at 1st October, a decrease of thirty-nine compared with the September figure, though the Employment Officer, Bunny Garner, reported that the figure of unemployed had risen again since then. Eighty-six vacancies were filled by the Bureau during September. IRISH T.U. ORGANISATION: The F. & G.P. recommended that the office be authorised to deposit £1,000 with the Irish Ministry for Industry and Commerce, as a prerequisite to having a branch of A.C.T.T. in Ireland, as required by Irish law. The General Secretary reported that an Organiser would be visiting Ireland within the next two or three weeks to investigate and report back to the Executive Committee on the proposed Irish studios. " HARRY BLACK " MARSHAM PRODUCTIONS LTD.: It was agreed that a reasonable number of Indian technicians could be employed while the production Harry Black was on location in India for a period of eight or more weeks. The Company had given an undertaking that a full A.C.T.T. main shooting unit would be employed on the location, together with an A.C.T.T. second unit of Lighting Cameraman, Camera Operator, two Focus Pullers, Clappers/Loader, Director, Assistant Director, Stills Cameraman and Location Manager. The second unit would be proceeding about 1st December and there would be the usual three-union location meeting beforehand. TV PRODUCER / DIRECTORS DRAFT AGREEMENT: This document, already accepted by a wellattended meeting of TV Producer/ Directors, was presented to the Executive which, after making certain amendments, decided to give detailed consideration to the draft at a subsequent meeting; the following Executive meeting spent the whole evening on this matter. Various deletions and amendments were agreed and it was also agreed that, prior to submitting it to the Programme Contractors, the amended draft should be approved by the General Council. The Council considered the draft agreement in detail and made a number of further amendments. The document was then unanimously endorsed for submission to the employers. SOCIETY FOR FRIENDSHIP WITH BULGARIA: The F. & G.P. recommended and it was agreed that we affiliate to the Society for a fee of 10/6d. per year. This was agreed by the Council.