Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians

The Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1933 and 1991.

ACTT

Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians
Merged into	Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union
Founded	1933
Dissolved	1991
Headquarters	2 Soho Square, London
Location	United Kingdom
Members	20,021 (1982)
Key people	George Elvin Alan Sapper
Publication	Film and TV Technician
Affiliations	Labour Party

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 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. In 1936, the union affiliated to the Trades Union Congress.

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, was established in 1950. In 1955, it extended its coverage to represent technicians working on ITV, 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. Sapper would play a leading role in the 1979 ITV strike.

The union repeatedly discussed potential mergers with the Association of Broadcasting Staff (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.

Election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position
1951 general election	Oxford	George Elvin	25,427	44.0	2

General Secretaries

1934: George Elvin

1969: Alan Sapper

Presidents

1937: Anthony Asquith

1969: George Elvin

1974: Robert Bolt

Ron Bowie

1983: Bruce Anderson

Act Films Ltd

• Green Grow The Rushes (1950)
• Night Was Our Friend (1951)
• Circumstantial Evidence (1952)
• Private Information (1952)
• The Final Test (1952)
• The Blue Parrot (1953)
• House of Blackmail (1953)
• Burnt Evidence (1954)
• Final Appointment (1954)
• Dangerous Cargo (1954)
• Room in the House (1955)
• Stolen Assignment (1955)
• The Last Man to Hang? (1956)
• Suspended Alibi (1957)
• The Diplomatic Corpse (1957)
• Second Fiddle (1957)
• The Man Upstairs (1958)
• Dead Lucky (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 (1981)

Publications

• Action! Fifty Years in the Life of a Union. Published: 1983 (UK). Publisher: ACTT. ISBN 0 9508993 0 5.

"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.

External links

• BECTU History: ACTT
• Catalogue of the ACTT publications collection held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick