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
technician
A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles.
Specialisation
The term technician covers many different speciali ...
s 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 devo ...
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''](_blank)
Routledge, 2013. , 9781135087203
ACT began organising
film laboratory A film laboratory is a commercial service enterprise and technical facility for the film industry where specialists develop, print, and conform film material for classical film production and distribution which is based on film material, such as n ...
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
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
and
Roy Boulting
John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...
, and this may have partly inspired their film, ''
I'm All Right Jack
''I'm All Right Jack'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting from a script by Frank Harvey, John Boulting and Alan Hackney based on the 1958 novel ''Private Life'' by Alan Hackney.
The film is a sequel t ...
''. ACTT were highly critical of the film's negative portrayal of trade unionists.
In 1969, Elvin was replaced as General Secretary by
Alan Sapper.
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 #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
* ''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.