The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) is a trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It has around 26,500 members who work in broadcasting

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...

, film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

, theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, entertainment

Entertainment

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...

, leisure

Leisure

Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....

 and interactive media

Interactive media

Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user’s actions by presenting content such as text, graphics, animation, video, audio, etc.-Terminology:...

.

BECTU was founded in 1991 with the merger of the Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians

Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians

The Association of Cinematograph Television and Allied Technicians 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...

 (ACTT) and the Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance

Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance

The Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance was a short-lived British entertainment trade union. It was founded in 1984 with the merger of the Association of Broadcasting Staff and the National Association of Theatrical Television and Kine Employees.The union appointed two General...

 (BETA), the history of which can be traced back to 1890 http://www.bectu.org.uk/about/history/history.html.
In July 1995 the Film Artists Association (FAA), founded in 1927 as a trade union for film extras

Extra (actor)

A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...

 transferred itself to BECTU becoming a sub-division of BECTU.

BECTU is financed entirely by individual subscriptions from members.

BECTU's affiliations include the Trades Union Congress

Trades Union Congress

The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...

, the Scottish Trades Union Congress

Scottish Trades Union Congress

The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....

, Union Network International

Union Network International

UNI Global Union is a global union federation for skills and services, gathering national and regional trade unions. It was launched on January 1, 2000. Its more than 900 affiliated unions in 140 countries have 20 million members...

, the General Federation of Trade Unions

General Federation of Trade Unions (UK)

The General Federation of Trade Unions is a national trade union centre in the United Kingdom. It has 35 affiliates with a membership of just over 214,000 and describes itself as the "federation for specialist unions".-History:...

, the Federation of Entertainment Unions

Federation of Entertainment Unions

The Federation of Entertainment Unions is a joint representative body based in the United Kingdom, representing workers in TV, theatre, film, music, gaming, cinema, publishing, new media, professional football and other performig arts....

 and the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

.

Anyone working or seeking employment in the sectors covered by BECTU in the UK can apply for membership.

Gerry Morrissey was elected General Secretary in February 2007, the position having been left vacant on the death from cancer of Roger Bolton

Roger Bolton

Roger William Bolton was a British trade unionist.Roger Bolton left Dublin with his family in 1958 when they moved to London...

 in November 2006.

BECTU sites

• bectu.org.uk
• http://www.bectubbc.org.ukbectubbc.org.uk for BECTU members in the BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
  ]
• BECTU Bulletin Board
• BECTU Learning Studio
• BECTU Crewbus

Other relevant sites

• PLASA
  Plasa
  The Professional Lighting And Sound Association or PLASA is a UK-based trade organisation representing over 500 members worldwide.In addition to providing members with expert advice on a wide range of business and technical issues, PLASA also monitors legislative developments, alerting members to...
  
  
• Association of British Theatre Technicians
• Production Services Association
• Society of Television Lighting Directors (STLD)
  Society of Television Lighting Directors
  The STLD was established on 30 October 1974 as the Society of Television Lighting Directors to promote discussion on techniques and the use and design of equipment in the field of television production, and at its 35th AGM in March 2009 it became the Society of Television Lighting and Design.With...
  
  
• Association of Lighting Designers
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees