International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1938)

I. A. 34th Convention By JAMES J. FINN EIGHT hundred and twenty-nine delegates with 923 votes representing 702 locals were present at the Thirty-Fourth Convention of the I. A. T. S. E. in Cleveland, Ohio, the week of June 6 — the gathering being far and away the best-organized and smoothest-running conclave of I. A. representatives in the history of the organization, thanks to the unstinting work of locals 27 and 160. On every hand — from the printed program right down the line to farewell courtesies — was evidence of painstaking planning, industrious application and precision execution of the program. tne past two years by 14,004 to a new From the standpoint of arrangements high of 42,881. New locals chartered and hospitality there never was an I. A. Convention like this one, which is — and may be for a long time to come — the all-time, all-tops and undisputed champ among I. A. gatherings. There being no election of officers scheduled this year, the highlights of the Convention were contained in the progress reports of the various officers, notably that of President George E. Browne, a detailed resume of which is appended hereto. The Convention opened on a high note as a result of the appearance of such notables as Sidney Kent, President of 20th CenturyFox Corp.; President William Green of the A. F. of L. ; Governor Martin Davey of Ohio, the International Presidents of the Plumbers and Steamfitters and the I.B.E.W., and Spyros Skouras, theatre chain operator. Most interesting statement by Kent was as significant as the appearance of himself and other exhibitors and producers at the Convention: "I believe that the record that our industry has compiled, if investigated, would prove that we have had less interruption in employment, less hard feeling, less recrimination, and have built more good will than any industry that I know of in ihe country." Gold life-membership cards in Local 160 were presented to President Browne and to his personal representative, William Bioff, by Harland Holmden, Local 160 head. Top-voting Local at Convention was No. 37 with 55 votes representing a membership of more than 7,000. # I.A. Finances, Membership Report of the Board of Trustees revealed, among other things, following facts: cash on hand, $228,668.65, an increase of more than $137,000 over the previous period; an increased income from per capita tax of more than $128,000; a decrease in operating costs of more than $21,000, and an operating profit of more than $174,000. Cost of the 1938 Convention was approximately $128,000. I. A. membership has increased over total 110. Several stagehand locals have been consolidated with projectionist locals. The Claim Dept. collected $2,998.79 during the past two years, termed a period of "relative inactivity" by Gen. Sec.-Treas. Louis Krouse. Two past International Presidents, William C. Elliott and James Lemke, addressed the Convention. Another speaker was Nat Golden, Chief of the Motion Picture Division of the U. S. Dept. of Commerce, who is also a member of Local 160. The combined report of the proceedings of the various Executive Board meetings that have been held since the last Convention are, of course, the official record of I. A. activities, but since practically the same ground is covered in a more formal and enlightening manner in President Browne's report, the latter will be offered as the piece de resistance of this article. Browne opened his report with a review of the revolutionary trend in technical and industrial developments within the past ten years. He then paid his respects to the "scurrilous criticism" directed at himself and the I. A. by what he termed the "poison pen" element — which reference obviously was pointed toward certain daily newspaper columnists who have criticized I. A. policies. Browne stated that he chose not to dignify these assertions by entering a refutation, stating that while reams of inferences have been written not a single "implied" fact has been proven. Strict flexibility still is his policy, Browne stated, and justifiably so in view of the results obtained. Not a single strike or lockout of importance has occurred within the past two years. Browne pointed to such accomplishments as the signing of 38 independent studios in Hollywood, the organization, of the film exchange workers, and the settlement of the N. Y. City projectionist controversy in which 160 theatres, were brought under the I. A. banner /. A. Pres. Browne Details Serviceman Organization EXCERPT FROM PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO 34th I. A. CONVENTION DISTRIBUTION of applications was the signal for a large group of applicants to form an organization known as the Society of Sound Engineers, with offices in New York, and officers were promptly elected. Before it was possible for the General Office to inaugurate plans, they decided that they would tell us how to organize them; what to bargain for and probably, if given sufficient time, to institute an investigation to decide whether we were fit to be affiliated with. From a communication sent by the Society to its membership: "Our attorney also read a copy of a letter sent to George Browne, requesting an answer to that letter." They had turned legal even before they had turned I. A. Still another quotation from the same letter: "As you must remember the Society was formed primarily for the purpose of retaining the Sound Engineer's identity as a separate and distinct craft in the motion picture industry and its allied branches." Special Classification) Abolished I then made up my mind to eliminate "Sound Service" and that these men were to come under the classification of Moving Picture Operators and nothing else. Primarily, because the work is so closely associated, and, further, it is my candid opinion that we have had a sufficiency of local unions with a superiority complex, who feel that they ought to affiliate with the International, giving nothing to the organization and derive all the benefits for which we have long fought. I again immediately went into conference with the Sound Service organizations and agreed upon a basic scale. This final agreement was not based upon any random guesswork. Each of the Sound Service companies had supplied the General Office with a list of their employes and amount of salaries received, which averaged $57.14 weekly, with unlimited working hours. Consequently, the difficulty encountered by the General Office in obtaining agreement to a maximum of 54 hours weekly with a minimum salary of $80 per week for sound service men working in designated districts, and $110 for those rendering service in unlimited territory. Concisely, this seems to be a fair monetary exchange for a high-sounding title. Agreement has also been reached for absorbing those men performing sound service work for the major circuits into our local organizations, thus permanently abolishing the "Sound Service" classifica [Extemporaneously: "I personally believe . . . that we will not become logs in the pond and will resist every effort to have ourselves put in the position of elevator operators. When the elevator stops, we step out and wait until the man fixes it. I contend now, and I have always contended, that anything pertaining to projection . . . belongs within the scope of our jurisdiction and should be done by our members; they should now, and should have a long time ago, put themselves in a position to proficiently qualify for that class of work."] 20 INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST