International projectionist (Jan 1963-June 1965)

Volume 39 July, 1964 Number 7 I.A.T.S.E. Convenes in Louisville . Role of Labor Stressed The staff of International Projectionist extends greetings to I.A.T.S.E. and its convention delegates at Louisville. May the next half century be as spectacular as the last. The forty-seventh annual convention of the International Alliance was called to order July 20 at Convention Center in Louisville, Ky., with an estimated 1.100 delegates in attendance. The assembly was preceded by a week of planning sessions and regular businessi transactions by the General Executive Board, held at the Louisville Sheraton Hotel, the convention headquarters. The 14 district organizations of I.A.T.S.E. also held sessions during the week-end preceding the conventions opening day. Third Visit This year marks the third occasion on which the Kentucky city has been chosen as the scene of the I.A.T.S.E. biennial gathering. The first was 30 years ago — June 4-8, 1934 — at a time when America was struggling to climb out of the depths of depression. Wage cuts and unemployment were the chief problems before that convention, and much hope was being pinned on the new wage and price codes which had been worked out, industry by industry, under the auspices of the National Recovery Administration. The second Louisville convention — June 3-6, 1940 — grappled with the effects of significant changes on the national and world scene. Much to the regret of officers and members of the Alliance, the N.R.A. codes had been declared unconsitutional by the Supreme Court, thus upsetting years of constructive effort to achieve economic stability. Employment however, was showing improvement, largely because of war production. Many Changes The return to Louisville this summer focuses attention on the further tremendous changes which a quarter of a century have brought. The threat of world domination by Fascism has been put down, at tragic cost. The threat of Communist subversion in the United States and Canada also has been largely overcome, but this type of dictatorship has engulfed more than half the world, reaching almost to our boundaries, and compels us to live in perpetual hazard of total devastation by atomic war. Fortunately, a combination of unequalled military preparedness and wide, sober salesmanship have held off the threatened catastrophe so far. However, America faces a new challenge in the form of apostles of military recklessness who have risen to alarming political prominence. Rise of TV Within the entertainment industry, the years since I.A.T.S.E. last met at Louisville have brought the rise of television as a major entertainment medium. Although TV has given employment to thousands of LA. members, it also created grave problems, diminishing the number of motion picture theatres and for a time shaking the movie industry to its very foundations. Recent years have seen this crisis pass. New theatres now are being built, and much of the lost audience has been recovered. By pushing organizing in many directions. LA. membership has been maintained near an all-time high of around 60,000. Numerous locals, however, are troubled periodically by employment problems, and the advancement of automation looms as a challenge to our industry as well as to all others. Employment Many of the matters to be considered by the delegates at Louisville will have a bearing on the employment situation. Reports will be received regarding steps taken in an effort to ease the industry's tax burden, to overcome the continuing depressive effect of the antitrust degrees, to curb runaway film production and to prevent loss of work by updating some of our union procedures and requirements. International Projectionist July, 1964