PICTURE OPERATORS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 63, 8 December 1936, Page 2

PICTURE OPERATORS

Dominion Award Claimed By Projectionists HOURS AND RATES OF PAY An application for a Dominion award for projectionists was made to the Arbitration Court yesterday by the Federated Motion Picture Projectionists’ Association and on behalf of seven affiliated. unions. The respondents were the J. C. Williamson Picture Corporation, Ltd., and others. Before the afternoon sitting was resumed members of the court—-his Honour. Mr. Justice Page (president), Mr. W. Cecil Prime (employers' representative), and Mr. A. L. Monteith (workers’ representative) —inspected the projection rooms in several city theatres. Mr. R. J. Reardon appeared for the applicants, and Mr. W. J. Mountjoy for the employers. Mr. RArdon said the association had arranged through the Labour Department to have tests taken in projection boxes. • That had been done some time ago by the Dominion Laboratory. These tests were on tlie effect of fumes and flue gases on health, and the applicants wanted to stress that aspect of the case. One report had been prepared by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and another by the Labour Department. The reports on the tests were not available, and in order to obtain copies it would be necessary for the court to request their production. The projectionists were not aware of the contents of the reports, but they considered they should be made available whether It was favourable to their case or not. His Honour said steps could be taken to secure the production of the reports. Changes in Industry.

After asking for a two-day fixture In order that all the facts of the motion picture in general and the work of projectionists in particular could be considered and judged, Mr. Reardon said that in view of the fact that circumstances and conditions had undergone so many fundamental changes a review of the industry as at present constituted was now necessary. Wages and conditions ruling in the past must now be scrapped and an award made based solely on the merits of the case. The projectionist was the one essential human factor contributing to the screening of talking pictures. With the advent of sound pictures It had become necessary for the projectionist to pay more strict and careful attention to his profession, and he must be more of an idealist than a working man. The projection box, owing to the necessity for preventing direct currents of air entering, was always an exceedingly unpleasant place to work In. The burning of carbons, the lack of ventilation, artificial light and high temperatures, all tended to make working conditions unpleasant and indeed unhealthy. Au important consideration was the degree of electrical knowledge required on the part of the projectionist. Since the discovery of talkie pictures the projection room had become a maze of switchboards and electrical appliances. The technical side of projection work had grown apace. Wages Claims. The following hours of work and minimum rates of pay were claimed by the applicants: Projectionists employed in continuous picture theatres and/or shows giving two performances a day, 40 hours a week, 34 hours’ projection work, £8 a week; projectionists employed in theatres where not more than seven screenings a week are given, 27 hours, 21 hours’ projection work, £7; projectionists in theatres showing not more than six screenings a wek, 24 hours, 18 hours’ projection work, £6; projectionists employed in theatre,* for not more than 21 hours a week and not more than 15 hours’ projection work, £5; projectionists employed in theatres for not more than four performances a week and not more than 16 hours a week and' not more than 12 hours’ projection work, £1 a performance. The following wages were claimed for youth assistants: From 16 to 17 years, £l/10/- a week; from 17 to IS years, £l/15/-; from 18 to 19 years, £2; from 19 to 20 years, £2/10/-; from 20 to 21 years, £2/15/-. It was requested that assistants work solely under the instructions of the projectionists. The applicants claimed three weeks’ holiday on full pay after 12 months' continuous service.

Evidence on behnlf of the applicants was given by Hugh Hay Barclay, cinematograph inspector for tbe Film Exchanges’ Association. He said the duties of a projectionist to-day had trebled over those of the silent picture operator. It required five years to produce a competent projectionist. Cross-examined by Mr. Mountjoy, Mr. Barclay said a youth might be a capable projectionist after three years, but he would be better for five years’ experience. Air. Alountjoy: How do you account for the fact that silent operators became efficient talkie operators overnight?—"They already had knowledge of working silent projectors, and in every instance expert engineers came with the plant.” Are you aware that the Western Electric do not allow a projectionist to touch u machine, and that if anything goes wrong a Western Electric mechanic has to be called in to do the servicing?—“That is so in Wellington and Auckland, but not in the country.” Other witnesses for the applicants were Archibald Alexander Whitelaw, a film inspector for the Film Renters’ Association from 1920 to 1924; Caleb Wyatt, a projectionist; and Bernard T. Cane, who said he had been employed in the operating-box of a Masterton theatre for several months this year at a salary of 5/- a week. Hearing of the case will be resumed to-day.