BECTU was founded in 1991 with the merger of the
Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians and the
Broadcasting and Entertainment Trades Alliance, the history of which can be traced back to 1890. In July 1995, the
Film Artistes' Association (FAA), founded in 1927 as a trade union for
film extras merged to become a sub-division of BECTU. after the position had been left vacant due to the death of
Roger Bolton, who died from cancer in November 2006.
Merger into Prospect BECTU announced in 2014 that it was in merger talks with the
Prospect trade union which represents
engineers,
managers,
scientists and other specialists in both the public and private sectors in the UK. Prospect is not currently affiliated to any
political party. At the Bectu Annual Conference held on 14 May 2016 it was agreed to ballot Bectu members on the proposed merger with Prospect. It was announced on 30 August 2016 that BECTU members had overwhelmingly voted Yes to the merger with Prospect which took place on 1 January 2017. BECTU became a sector of Prospect, with Morrissey continuing to lead the sector. In 2018, Philippa Childs took over as secretary of the sector. ==Leadership==