The Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded by technicians at the Gaumont British Studios in 1933 as the Association of Cinematograph Technicians (ACT). It elected George Elvin as its first General Secretary the following year, and in 1936 affiliated to the Trades Union Congress. ACT began organising film laboratory workers, and in 1943 it affiliated to the Labour Party. 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. 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 finally merged with the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance, the successor to the ABS, to form the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union.
References
- BECTU History: ACTT
- Alan Burton, Boulting, John Edward (1913–1985), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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