The International Secretariat of Entertainment Trade Unions (ISETU) was a
global union federation
A global union federation (GUF) is an international federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic tradition described as international t ...
bringing together trade unions representing workers in the arts, media and entertainment industries.
History
The secretariat was established in 1965, on the initiative of the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...
. It absorbed the International Congress of Broadcasting Unions, and adopted two existing bodies, the European Union of Film and Television Workers, and the Inter-American Federation of Entertainment Workers, as regional bodies.
The first general secretary, Alan Forrest, believed that the funding for the new organisation came from the American government, and was intended to provide a less radical alternative to the
International Federation of Actors
The International Federation of Actors (french: Federation Internationale des Acteurs, FIA) is a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing actors.
History
The federation was established in 1952, on the initiative of Briti ...
(FIA) and
International Federation of Musicians
The International Federation of Musicians (french: Federation Internationale des Musiciens, FIM) is a global union federation bringing together trade unions representing music performers. FIM counts member unions in 70 countries and three regional ...
(FIM). These allegations were never proven, but influenced the perception of the organisation among many trade unionists, and it did not attract affiliations from any unions which held membership of the FIA or FIM.
ISETU was initially based in Brussels, but later moved its headquarters to London, and then on to Vienna, and finally Geneva. In 1984, it affiliated to the
(FIET) and became known as the International Secretariat for Arts, Mass Media and Entertainment Trade Unions (ISETU-FIET), but retained a high level of autonomy.
At the start of 1992, the federation left FIET, and instead established the International Committee of Entertainment and Media Unions with the FIA, FIM,
International Federation of Audio Visual Workers (FISTAV) and the
International Federation of Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries.
The IFJ is an associate ...
, the
International Graphical Federation
The International Graphical Federation (IGF) was a global union federation bringing together unions of printing workers around the world.
History
Moved to establish the federation began in 1939, when the Lithographers' International, Internatio ...
soon also joining. Relationships with FISTAV were particularly strong, and in 1993, the two secretariats merged, forming what became known as the
Media and Entertainment International
The Media and Entertainment International (MEI) was a global union federation representing workers in the arts.
The federation was founded in 1993 with the merger of the International Secretariat of Arts, Communications, Media and Entertainment ...
.
Affiliates
In 1979, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:
Leadership
General Secretaries
:1965: Alan Forrest
:1972: ''Post vacant''
:1984: Irene Robadey
:1991: Jim Wilson
Presidents
:1965:
Leslie Littlewood
:1971: Robin Richardson
:1976: Josef Schweinzer
:1984: Walter Bacher
References
{{Authority control
Trade unions established in 1965
Trade unions disestablished in 1993
Global union federations
Entertainment industry unions