Jurisdictional disputes in the motion-picture Industry : hearings before a special subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first-session, pursuant to H. Res. 111 (1948)

MOTION-PICTURE JURISDICTIONAL DISPUTES 1081 We told them we had come to Chicago to find out what they really meant and to whom they intended to award jurisdiction over the work ol" set erection. The three arbitrators told us that they had been selected and agreed on by all parties for the committee because none of them had any interests in any work in the studios, and therefore were completely neutral. They said their August clarification was a mistake and never should have been issued. They added that any additional clarification would be another mistake. They said they had written the August clarification as the result of many months of unceasing pressure on the part of William Hutcheson. They said Mr. Hutcheson wanted "a basket of words" over which he could "haggle" and dispute their meaning. When we asked them what they meant by "pressure," they said that in order to explain that it would be necessary to go into internal politics in the A.F.ofL. They told us that they were ready to resign from the A. F. of L. executive council if the executive council should reverse their Decem- ber directive. The three arbitrators told us there never was any tloubt as to what they meant by their December 1945 directive, and that Mr. Hutcheson knew exactly what they meant. They said that they intended to give jurisdiction over the work of erecting sets on stages, with the exception of mill and trim work, to the lATSE. We asked the arbitrators if they understood that sometimes a com- plete set is built from the ground up on a sound stage. They said they knew this and they still intended to give such work to the lATSE. The arbitrators—and we think it was Mr. Doherty who said this—gave as their reason that the lATSE is a union of workers in the entertainment industry and has always been so historically, and they pointed out that lATSE men could not go outside the entertain- ment industry to compete in the building trade industry. The arbitrators told us that "Big Bill" Hutcheson was deliberately flouting the principle of arbitration, the very princij^le which the "Four A's" representatives had come to Chicago to promote. That same day, in the afternoon. President Dullzell arranged a meeting with IVlr. William Green, president of the A. F. of L. We met in Sir. Green's suite in the Morrison Hotel following the afternoon session. Mr. Dullzell told Mr. Green we had met with the three arbi- trators and exactly what the three arbitrators had told us. We told Mr. Green that we were there to see him on behalf of people Avho had worked in the motion-picture industry for many years and who were now out in front of the studio cracking each other's heads because of this disgraceful situation and the defiance of an arbitration award by Mr. Hutcheson. Mr. Green said he was powerless because the A. F. of L. is a volun- tary federation of unions. In response to a direct question which in substance was: "Mr. Green, is it your understanding that the three- man arbitration board awarded the jurisdiction over set erection to the lATSE?" Mr. Green said, "That is my understanding." We said to ]Mr. Green that unless something was done quickly to stop the Hollywood strike and rectify the disgraceful situation caused by the August clarification, we would consider a Nation-wide publicity campaign to expose Mr. Hutcheson's defiance of an arbitration award and its tragic consequences.