International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1947)

Film Trade Unions in Finland For the notes which formed the basis of this article IP is indebted to Leo Hilden, Manager, Kansan Elokuva Oy in Helsinki, Finland. IT IS only within the past several years that the organized theatrical crafts in America has become aware of the existence of similar groupings of movie technicians in other parts of the world and especially in the non-English-speaking countries. Considering its own 54-year history, the I.A.T.S.E. has operated in what amounted to a vacuum in terms of interest in or cooperation with their brother craftsmen elsewhere. The recent tremendous expansion in the application of the motion picture in many fields other than that of entertainment, plus the ascendency of Labor parties in politics, have served to focus attention on the many organizations of film technicians throughout the globe. Not only in England where the extremely capable Tom O'Brien has welded together a powerful combine of theatrical workers, and in Australia where the entertainment crafts have long enjoyed such success, but also in France, in Mexico, in South Africa and, particularly, in the Scandinavian countries have show business workers banded together to improve their economic lot and to attain a higher degree of technical proficiency. Finland the Courageous IP readers will undoubtedly be surprised to learn that even in so small a country as Finland the amusement workers have achieved a state of unity that shames many countries many times the size of this courageous little nation. As long ago as 1917 the Finnish amusement workers embraced unionism of a brand which has endured through all the intervening years of wars, hunger and economic crises. Oddly enough, these workers were first organized as a branch of the Commercial and Office Employees Federation of Finland, commonly referred to in Finnish as the SLTL. The going was really tough at the start because Finland was sorely beset economically, theatres were few, wages were ludicrously low and working conditions were wretched. In 1918, at the close of World War I, civil war broke out in Finland and its natural concomitant was to practically strangle the amusement business. But with characteristic courage a small group of Finnish film people maintained contact with one another, biding their time for the day when another union could be formed. The plunge was taken in 1930 when the Federation of Projectionists was formed. Electing to go along on its own, this organization affiliated with no strong central body and therefore was able to muster almost no backing for its program. Ten years elapsed before such affiliation was decided upon, the result of which was the organizing of the Federation of Cinema Employees as an adjunct of the old SLTL. The Federation consists of two branches — one for projectionists, the other for general theatre employees which includes cashiers, porters, charwomen, exchange workers, and office people. In the cities each branch operates autonomously, but in the rural areas both branches are joined in one section, much in the same fashion as the LA. mixed locals. Peon Wages, Work Conditions This new organization had tough sledding at the outset because of the widely varying wage scales and working conditions imposed by the employers' previously unrestricted activities. Competition for jobs was keen, which provided a field day for the employers. The Federation terminated this economic picnic by instituting a rigid classification system of four groups of theatres for each of which was established a basic wage for each employee. Illustrating the power of organization, wage scales immediately jumped 50% over their previous levels. Prior to this move by the Federation the employers demanded and usually obtained from a browbeaten projectionist, for example, extra work such as transporting film, machine repairing, wiring jobs and such other assorted chores as they elected to assign — all without extra compensation! The Federation stopped all this. Now a worker does only that work for which he is specifically hired and paid for. and all extra time put in on a certain class of work is charged for at overtime rates. Projectionist wages, for example, have been raised from an average of $18-32 to the present level of $45-52 — without overtime. Moreover, the dream of projectionists for one day off weekly has now been realized, and at least every seventh such off-day must be a Sunday. Recognizing the fact that it has sometiring more important to sell than straight labor, the Federation set about insuring that its members attain a degree of competency that would make for better worker-employer relations. To this end a system of apprenticeship, examination and licensing was introduced. The pre-Federation apprenticeship period was predicated on a time basis of one year. Thus, the projectionists in the cities, working an average of five hours daily, would accumulate more than 1500 hours experience in a year; while the man working on the very limited rural schedule would be hard pressed to accumulate 500 hours in the same period. The limited experience of the latter group became all too apparent when they appeared for the two-week training and TYPICAL EXAMPLE QF A PROJECTION ROOM AND EQUIPMENT IN SCANDINAVIA In common with almost all theatres in Scandinavia, this projection room in the Kino Adlon, Helsinki, is noted for extreme spaciousness, cleanliness, and neat, compact installation of all units. Two air-cooled projectors and a stereo, all by Zeiss Ikon, are shown. Note arc imagers above vent duct. All theatre lighting controlled from this room. Projection chief Ossi, considered tops in Finland, was not available when this picture was taken. INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST e December 1947 13