The Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

which existed between 1933 and 1991.

History

The union was founded by technicians at the Gaumont British Studios in 1933 as the Association of Cine-Technicians, later becoming the Association of Cinematograph Technicians (ACT). By the following year, it was struggling; it had just 88 members, with only a quarter of those paid up, and it was in financial difficulties.

George Elvin George Herbert Elvin (1907 – 3 February 1984) was a British trade union leader. The son of Herbert Henry Elvin, general secretary of the National Union of Clerks, and brother of Lionel Elvin, who became a prominent educationalist, George devot ...

was appointed as its first General Secretary the following year, establishing a journal and an employment exchange. Within a year, membership was over 600 and the finances were in good shape."Obituary: Mr George Elvin", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 16 February 1984 In 1936, the union affiliated to the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

.Macnab, Geoffrey. ''J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry''
Routledge, 2013. , 9781135087203 ACT began organising film laboratory workers, and in 1943 it affiliated to the Labour Party. At the ACT annual general meeting of 1949 the union made the decision to create ACT Films Limited which with the support of the President of the Board of Trade,

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, was established in 1950. In 1955, it extended its coverage to represent technicians working on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, and the following year incorporated "Television" into its name. In the late 1950s, ACTT came into dispute with film directors John and Roy Boulting, and this may have partly inspired their film, '' I'm All Right Jack''. ACTT were highly critical of the film's negative portrayal of trade unionists. In 1969, Elvin was replaced as General Secretary by

Alan Sapper Alan Sapper (18 March 1931 – 19 May 2006) was a British people, British trade unionist. Born in Hammersmith, Sapper studied at the Latymer Upper School, then worked as a botanist at Kew Gardens while studying with the University of London Exter ...

. The union repeatedly discussed potential mergers with the

Association of Broadcasting Staff The Association of Broadcasting and Allied Staffs (ABS) was a British broadcasting trade union. The organisation was founded in 1945 with the merger of the BBC Staff (Wartime) Association and the Association of BBC Engineers to form the BBC St ...

(ABS), which represented the equivalent workers at the BBC, but these foundered until in 1991 it merged with the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance, the successor to the ABS, to form the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union.

Election results

The union sponsored its general secretary as a candidate in the 1951 general election.

General Secretaries

:1934:

:1969:

Presidents

:1937: Anthony Asquith :1969:

:1974: Robert Bolt :Ron Bowie :1983: Bruce Anderson

Act Films Ltd

* '' Green Grow The Rushes'' (1950) * '' Night Was Our Friend'' (1951) * ''

Circumstantial Evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...

'' (1952) * '' Private Information'' (1952) * '' The Final Test'' (1952) * '' The Blue Parrot'' (1953) * ''

House of Blackmail ''House of Blackmail'' is a 1953 British drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Mary Germaine, William Sylvester and Alexander Gauge. Its plot follows a soldier and his girlfriend, who become mixed up with a blackmailer. Cast * Mar ...

'' (1953) * '' Burnt Evidence'' (1954) * '' Final Appointment'' (1954) * '' Dangerous Cargo'' (1954) * ''

Room in the House ''Room in the House'' is a 1955 comedy-drama film directed by Maurice Elvey. The film's screenplay, by Alfred Shaughnessy, is based on Eynon Evans Evan Eynon Evans (18 May 1904 – 1989) billed as Eynon Evans and also known as E. Eynon R ...

'' (1955) * '' Stolen Assignment'' (1955) * '' The Last Man to Hang?'' (1956) * '' Suspended Alibi'' (1957) * ''

The Diplomatic Corpse ''The Diplomatic Corpse'' is a 1958 British comedy thriller film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Robin Bailey, Susan Shaw and Liam Redmond. It was produced as a second feature by ACT Films. The film's sets were designed by the art dire ...

'' (1957) * '' Second Fiddle'' (1957) * '' The Man Upstairs'' (1958) * ''

Dead Lucky ''Dead Lucky'' is a 1960 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Vincent Ball, Betty McDowall, John Le Mesurier, Alfred Burke and Michael Ripper. A crime reporter teams up with a fashion journalist to investigate illegal go ...

'' (1959) * '' Don't Panic Chaps!'' (1959) * '' The Kitchen'' (1961) * ''The Piper's Tune'' (1961) * '' Dilemma'' (1962) * ''We are the Engineers'' (1969) * ''One in Five'' (1971) * ''The

People's March for Jobs The People's March for Jobs is the name for two different marches in protest against high unemployment in the United Kingdom. The first began on 1 May 1981; the second on 23 April 1983. 1981 The first march started in Huddersfield and joined up wi ...

'' (1981)

Publications

* ''Action! Fifty Years in the Life of a Union''. Published: 1983 (UK). Publisher: ACTT. . "Patterns of discrimination", Report into discrimination against women in the work of making and processing materials for films and TV channels. Researched and written by Sarah Benton under the guidance of the union's research director Roy and union's women's committee. Published 1975 by ACTT.

References

External links

BECTU History: ACTTCatalogue of the ACTT publications collection
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{Authority control Entertainment industry unions Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom 1933 establishments in the United Kingdom Trade unions established in 1933 Trade unions disestablished in 1991 Trade unions based in London