Records collected by Mailes pertaining to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and labor problems in the film industry. Included are excerpts from IATSE convention proceedings, annotated by Mailes; a copy of the transcript from Congressional hearings in 1947-1948 regarding union jurisdictional disputes in the film industry; an article and a speech on the Hollywood labor disputes; notes and writings by Mailes; and articles and reference material concerning the Ludlow Massacre and strikes, 1941-1948. Many of the papers are photocopies created, with the tape recordings, by the American Film Institute for a proposed show. The show was never produced and Mailes continued to collect notes and documents even after the project was discontinued.
The tape recordings contain Mailes's reminiscences about post-war labor relations in Hollywood, the IATSE, and the 1945 strike of the Set Decorators' Guild. This strike, which Mailes discusses in detail, was an example of the continuing dispute among film industry craft unions over jurisdiction and union loyalty. In this lengthy strike, the painters union battled the Alliance over the allegiance of the set decorators. The painters union was supported by the Conference of Studio Unions, an organization of other craft unions which had broken away from the traditionally craft union-oriented IATSE. The strike was eventually adjudicated by the American Federation of Labor (AFL), but its decision that the set decorators belonged to the painters union while the carpenters belonged to the Alliance was challenged by IATSE. The carpenters then went on strike, which proved to be violent and which generated adverse publicity for all unions. The result was a Congressional inquiry into the entire matter of jurisdictional conflict among film industry unions.
There is also some discussion on the tapes of the Hollywood 10, and of the lawsuit Hentschel-Cohea vs. IATSE (1937), again concerning IATSE's conflict with other unions. Mailes briefly discusses the debate over reform of IATSE, the United Screen Technicians Guild, and the involvement of the Communist Party. The first two tapes also contain some autobiographical and family history, as well as Mailes's summary of the early history of motion picture companies. The last two tapes include Mailes's interview in 1971 of Herbert K. Sorrell, concerning IATSE and the set decorators strike, and of Robert W. Ames, about the role of the Communist Party.
