In 1936 the General Secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Wire Drawers and Kindred Workers contacted the Trades Union Congress to request a showing of 'Modern Times' during the annual congress. The film is recommended, not for its comedy value, but for its ideologically sound view of the Bedaux system of labour management - for example "one of the workers, Charlie Chaplin, shows unmistakable signs of distress in the course of his employment and faints away under pressure of the new system".

Included in a file on 'Cinematograph Industry: Propaganda and Education Films', from the archive of the Trades Union Congress; document reference: MSS.292/675.63/2