International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1936)

May 1936 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST 15 International Alliance 33rd Convention in Kansas City, June 8 MORE than 850 delegates from every territory in the U. S. and Canada (not forgetting the Canal Zone), in addition to several hundred guests, will converge upon Kansas City, Mo., for the 33rd biennial convention of the International Alliance of Theatre State Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators. Both precedent and I. A. law specify the first week in June for the convention, but deferment of the meeting until June 8 was prompted by the sharp reduction in railroad tariff rates which becomes effective on June 1. Detailed instructions relating to those sections of the country affected by the cut in traffic rates have been issued by the General Office, the new standard rates supplanting the old special convention rate of one and one-third fare throughout most of the East. Convention headquarters will be located in the Muehlebach Hotel, while all sessions, including district meetings, will be held in the new Municipal Auditorium, considered the finest convention building in the country. This auditorium, in addition to providing marvelous facilities for every convention need, is air-conditioned throughout, thus insuring the comfort of the delegates during the proceedings. The auditorium seats 13,000, far exceeding I. A. requirements. Morale at High Point Kansas City will witness a new esprit de corps within I. A. ranks as a result of the widespread gains registered by the organization within the past two years. It is an open secret that the last I. A. assembly in Louisville reflected an all-time low in organization morale, easily the worst in Alliance history. I. A. representation in the West Coast studios was more a remembrance than a fact, with daily defections from the ranks of studio local unions making a shambles of the Coast group. The I. B. E. W. held full sway over the studios by virtue of an alleged exclusive contract with the producers; while the A. S. C, ostensibly a technical society, issued glib statements anent its "fiveyear contracts" for cameramen and assistants. Nor were the theatre field connections of the I. A. any too strong. The NRA was crumbling through lack of effective compliance, with theatreowners, aware of I. A. weakness in the studios, exhibiting a willingness to adopt the most high-handed methods in beating the I. A. to the ground. Stagehands were in an extremely precarious position. Dual organizations were flourishing. The events of the past two years will enable the assembly at Kansas City of representatives of a wholly different Alliance, particularly with respect to organization morale. Undoubtedly the greatest single contribution to what approximates a rebirth of the International was the sweeping victory scored by the I. A. in the West Coast studios. The reinstatement of thousands of I. A. men in studio posts, the reentry of the Alliance into the Basic Studio Agreement on a basis which makes it the dominant craft in the studios, served to strengthen the I. A. immeasurably, not only in the studios but also in the theatre field. Theatre owners awakened to the fact that they no longer could take extreme liberties with theatre workers without reprisals following swiftly. Vastly Improved Status Today the NRA no longer exists, a contingency to which practically all labor leaders looked forward with grave foreboding. Yet, unemployment has subsided to some degree, and contracttime last September saw scores of I. A. locals win substantial increases in wages and improvement in conditions. The legitimate stage has revived to some ex tent, and stagehands in the larger cities have benefitted through the reemployment efforts of the Federal Theatre Project. Dual organizations are by no means definitely on the wane, but their effect has been minimized considerably by the stiff opposition put forth by I. A. units throughout this country and Canada. Progressive simplification of theatre equipments has operated to block any increase in manpower, however bright the future may look as a result of various technical developments which probably will require additional equipment of a more complicated nature. Projection locals, however, have done well with non-theatrical activities, due in large part to the expansion of 16 mm. film advertising activities. Particularly noteworthy is the almost complete absence of the intensive preconvention electioneering which has always been a corollary of I. A. assemblies. This fact in itself is indicative of a more cohesive spirit within the organization. The usual preliminary rumblings about replacements in the various offices have been conspicuously lacking. The opening session of the convention will be called to order at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 8. It is likely that the sessions, including the balloting for and installation of officers, will extend through the following Friday. The standard I. A. convention routine with respect to committee activities and reports, and the time limitation applying to resolutions, will be adhered to. District meetings will get under way on Friday, the 5th, the last being held on the 7th, the day preceding the convention. A schedule of such meetings follows: June 5 — Districts 1 and 11. June 6 — Districts 4, 6, 7, and 12. June 7 — Districts 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 14. Consideration of the proposed revision of the Constitution and By-Laws of the Alliance will constitute one of the major Official Sound-Men Jurisdiction Agreement SETTLEMENT of the jurisdictional differences between the I. A. and the I. B. E. W. relative to the sound men in the West Coast Studios, originally scheduled for arbitration, was settled personally between presidents George Browne of the I. A. and Dan Tracy of the I. B. E. W. A verbatim copy of the agreement signed is appended hereto. Amendment To The 1926 Agreement Between L. U. No. 37, I. A. T. S. E. And L. U. No. 40, I. B. E. W. Insert the following new paragraph under I. A. T. S. E. division of work: "In the taking and recording of sound motion pictures, the operating of all sound equipment and all sound effects, and the setting up and striking of same on stages and locations." Insert the following new paragraph under I. B. E. W. division of work: "In the taking and recording of sound motion pictures, the operating of all generators and storage batteries. The installation, construction, maintenance, repair, all shop work and all work other than operating, striking and setting of all sound equipment and effects used in taking and recording of sound motion pictures on stages and locations."