Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

STRIKE EMPHASIS NOW ON WAGES New Demands Will Add to Labor Costs Bill of $90,000,000 for the Year by WILLIAM WEAVER Hollywood Editor With the production index forced down to an unseasonable 40 features in work — about $30,000,000 worth of product— the 1946 studio strike underwent a quick change of face at the start of its sixth and by no means final week when what started out as a jurisdictional dispute became a strike for wage increases as Conference of Studio Unions Locals 694 (carpenters) and 644 (painters) asked a 20 per cent wage increase and a 34hour week in new contracts which, CSU insists, must be signed before the striking workers return. It was estimated in August, before the present strike was foreseen, that the 1946 labor bill would be $90,000,000, an increase of $58,000,000 over the 1939 figure of $32,000,000. This new strike for wages, then, has responsible opinion in the production community subscribing to the gloomy view that picketing and related impediments to normal functioning will still be on at holiday time. Agreed to Pay $7,000,000 The major producers are not doing much talking but during a slight lull in this year's strike they did place on record a statistic on last year's strike previously mentioned only in private conversation : "The major studios agreed at the request of the IATSE to pay approximately $7,000,000 to workers displaced by the return to the studios of men who had been on strike." Those paid this sum last year were about 3,000 men supplied by IATSE to perform work abandoned by striking members of Conference of Studio Unions locals. An IATSE spokesman has said that about 2,000 men have been supplied in replacement of striking workers thus far in this year's strike and that similar financial consideration will be demanded for them when and if the end of hostilities entails termination of their employment. Fortunately, with respect to the present and immediate future, the studios affected by the strike are in possession of substantial backlogs of product. See No Studio Shutdown However, CSU union leaders tell their men that there can be no studio shutdown because their adversary, the IATSE, with its Hollywood locals and its projectionists throughout the country under single command, will insist, under threat of closing theatres if necessary, that producers keep the studios open at all costs. Progress toward establishment of permanent arbitration has gone swiftly with CSU and IATSE officials coming to agreement, shared in by the neutral Screen Actors Guild and the Teamsters Union, on the selection of Joseph Keenan, secretary of the Chicago American Federation of Labor, as permanent, impartial, salaried chairman of the arbitration board. Mr. Keenan's selection must be approved both by the unions and by studio management before the board goes into action. Demand Wage Increase With only the completion of contracts remaining as a barrier to settlement of the strike, the executive council of Carpenters Local 946 last Wednesday rfight adopted a resolution, subject to vote of its membership Sunday, demanding that employers grant immediately a wage increase of 20 per cent, and issued telegraphic invitations to all Hollywood unions and guilds to attend a meeting Friday night to hear its reasons for making this demand. Quick to oppose the introduction of wage demands at this point was the SAG, which pointed out in a published statement that all unions which were party to the acceptance of the 25 per cent increase granted last July had agreed to make no further wage demands until January 1, when a costof-living increase could be discussed if Department of Labor statistics indicated living costs had risen five per cent by then. Although attendance at the Friday , meeting was described as "disappointing," CSU president Herbert K. Sorrell said he was sure that most or all of the 12 CSU unions will follow the carpenters demand. Laboratories Went Dead However, it is an IATSE local — 683, laboratory workers — which has posed the most difficult problem. This local respected CSU picket lines and Hollywood laboratories— inclusive of those processing film for producers not under strike — went dead. The IATSE then suspended the local's officers and opened new headquarters staffed by officers appointed by the International. However, the damage done has been severe. IATSE reports that "about half" of 683's membership is back at work. However, the suspended 683 officers assert that not more than 10 per cent of the members are working. Complicating the situation further, Mr. Sorrell early this week proffered a "revised version" of the arbitration machinery previously agreed to by IATSE and neutral locals. His version would not require the settlements to be approved by the international presidents and could be implemented by two-thirds majority approval. IATSE denounced this proposal. Screens Silent, Chicago Circuits Recognize Union Chicago Bureau In a quick climax to what threatened to be a showdown fight between theatre circuit heads in Chicago and the Motion Picture Operators ' union, a peaceful settlement was reached Monday for recognition and minimum wage demands for the recently organized "white collar" workers union. The settlement was made following the arrival in Chicago over the weekend of Richard Walsh, IATSE president, and after a "sound sitdown strike" on October 31. • Ushers, cashiers, doormen, candy sales girls and office workers will comprise the membership of the new union, known as the AFL Theatre Employees Union B-46. Managers and assistant managers are not included. It will reportedly represent about 1,500 employees of 360 theatres in Chicago. Scales of 65 cents to one dollar per hour for candy girls and $1.75 to $2.75 an hour for cashiers, depending on length of service, were said to be among the minimum wage demands. Last Thursday, prior to the settlement, Chicago theatre audiences watched silent films when the sound went dead for a 15 to 30-minute period. The theatres were part of the Essaness and Balaban and Katz circuits, plus two Warner theatres in the city. A fourth circuit, the Schoenstadt, was also involved in the sound strike with the 2,500seat Picadilly theatre was also devoid of sound for a 15-minute period. Some patrons walked out when the screens were silenced and those who did had their admission refunded. Other theatres reported that film scenes on the screen went out of focus and managers attributed it to projectionists who used these means to show theatre owners they meant business. Meanwhile, in the Bronx, New York picket lines were established last Friday in front of six theatres of combined Bronx Amusements, Inc., by the Motion Picture Theatre Operating Managers and Assistant Managers Guild to enforce demands for recognition and for reinstatement of three managers allegedly discharged for union activities. Cleveland Projectionists Win Wage Increase The Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association Tuesday unanimously approved the action of its labor board in granting projectionists a two and one-half per cent wage increase effective immediately. This increase is in addition to the four year contract negotiated by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees last September which provides the projectionists with an annual two and one-half per cent increase. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 9. 1946