Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians

Publications.

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. 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.

This collection is available to researchers by appointment at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. See http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/using/

Link to full catalogue: http://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/ACT

Transferred from the University Library.

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).