Ralph Bond interviewed 3 A.C.T. long term lab technicians. Theytalk about the early days of Film Lab work, Rcak and Tank methods, poor working conditions and early A.C.T. activities inh the labs. They also talk about the 1945 and 1954 disputes. Sam Williams and Alf Cooper are also on the interview along with Bert Craik a labs employeesee also #175

This is a transfer from an open reeel !/4 " recording.

Interview extract, on the lockout at Humphries Laboratories during the overtime ban of 1954:-

"Randolph Terrano got very awkward about the fact that everyone working there, much to his surprise, operated the overtime ban on instructions from the union and he threatened to sack everybody. Some of the people stuck their heels in and twenty-five of them found themselves out of a job.

We had numerous meetings with these twenty-five members over a period of fourteen weeks. I can still see Eric Pask, who was a shop steward at Humphries, smoking his pipe and leading the members in their revolt againt Terrano. The whole of ACTT members - including those in the studios, on short film production as well as the laboratory members - were solidly behind the members who’d been locked out by Randolph Terrano. There were collections to help them and, once the arbitration award was made known, George Elvin and I, together with one or two of the laboratory representatives, had a meeting with Terrano and he completely caved in, reinstating all the twenty-five members and agreeing to pay them their back payment for the fourteen weeks they had been locked out. "