Reference number
  • ACT
Date
  • [1960?]-1991
Level
  • Collection
Description
  • Publications.
Extent
  • 6 boxes (5 [MSS.437], 1 [872])
Admin history
  • The union was founded by technicians at the Gaumont British Studios in 1933 as the Association of Cine-Technicians (ACT). It elected George Elvin as its first General Secretary the following year. ACT began organising film laboratory workers and in 1955, it extended its coverage to represent technicians working on ITV, and the following year incorporated "Television" into its name. 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.
Access status
  • Open
Related material
  • The Modern Records Centre also holds: records of the Broadcasting, Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BEKTU), the Association of Broadcasting and Allied Staffs and the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance (BETA).