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Title
Columbia Pictures picketer searched
Alternative Title
Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection
Date Created and/or Issued
1945
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
Title supplied by cataloger.; Photograph was edited for publication purposes.
The Columbia Pictures lot is now called Sunset-Gower Studios.; In February 1945, Herbert Sorrell lead a six-month strike that originated with a dispute between two unions, the CSU (Conference of Studio Unions) and the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada) over which one of them had union authority over seventy-seven set decorators. An independent arbitrator appointed by the War Labor Board found that the CSU had jurisdiction over the set decorators. When Hollywood producers refused to acknowledge that decision, the strike began. Around 10,000 CSU workers went on strike, picketing all of the studios. Many members of IATSE refused to cross the picket lines or do work normally filled by members of the CSU. The studios, however, had films already completed and were able to handle the strike better than the workers. By October, resources were running low and on October 5, 1945, picketers and replacement workers were involved in a bloody battle that became known as Hollywood Black Friday. Police and sheriffs from several departments were called in to handle the melee. Over 40 people were injured and property was destroyed. The strike was settled for a time. Another strike was called in September, 1946, after the studios replaced CSU workers and locked them out. After more fighting, the Screen Actors Guild voted to cross picket lines, a blow to the strikers. The CSU finally voted to permit impoverished members and supporters to cross the picket lines and return to work. These events led to the enactment of the Taft-Hartley Act, a federal bill that restricts the activities and power of labor unions.
Photograph caption dated October 13, 1945 reads "Paul Zander is shown being searched by police officers at the picket line at Columbia Studios, where film strikers set up a mass picket line today. Violence broke out soon after unionists formed a line before the studio gates." The two officers have their backs to the camera and Zander's face is obscured by one of the officers. Several men with smiles on their faces are in the background. Columbia Pictures studios are located in Hollywood.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00106622
Herald Examiner Collection
HE box 7030
CARL0005348107
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/32172
Subject
Conference of Studio Unions
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Strikes and lockouts--Motion picture industry--California--Los Angeles
Motion picture studios--California--Hollywood (Los Angeles)
Motion picture studios--California--Los Angeles--Employees
Motion picture industry--California--Los Angeles--Employees
Labor unions--United States
Police--California--Los Angeles
Men--California--Los Angeles
Searches and seizures--California--Los Angeles
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs
Herald-Examiner Collection photographs

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