The International Graphical Federation (IGF) was a global union federation bringing together unions of printing workers around the world.
Fédération graphique internationale | |
 | |
| Merged into | Union Network International |
|---|---|
| Founded | 13 May 1949 |
| Dissolved | 31 December 1999 |
| Headquarters | Monbijoustrasse 73, Bern, Switzerland |
Members | 1.2 million (1994)[1] |
| Publication | Journal of the International Graphical Federation |
| Affiliations | ICFTU |
History
editMoved to establish the federation began in 1939, when the Lithographers' International, International Typographers' Secretariat, and International Federation of Bookbinders and Kindred Trades, agreed to merge.[2] However, due to World War II, no progress was made until 1946, when the British Printing and Kindred Trades Federation established a committee which drafted a constitution for a merged organisation.[3]
The federation was established at its first meeting, in Stockholm in 1949. It agreed to operate on a non-political basis, instead focusing on responses to technical developments in the industry, and sharing information on industrial disputes, employment and health and safety standards in each country.[3]
The federation had three boards, covering typography, lithography and bookbinding, and each agreed policies which were put to the body's congress. An executive committee with fifteen members co-ordinated the federation's activities, while a bureau of the general secretary, president, and four representatives of the country in which the headquarters were located, ran the organisation between executive committee meetings.[3]
The IGF affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), but its membership was suspended in 1967, as it had permitted the French Federation of Book Workers, a communist union from France, to affiliate.[4][5]
At the end of 1999, the federation merged with the Communications International, the International Federation of Employees, Technicians and Managers, and the Media and Entertainment International, to form Union Network International.[6]
Affiliates
editIn 1979, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:[7]
| Union | Country | Affiliated membership |
|---|---|---|
| Union of Printing and Paper | Austria | 24,272 |
| Paper and Publishing Industry Union | Belgium | 15,219 |
| Sindicato de Artes Graficas de Bogota | Colombia | 101 |
| Cyprus Industrial and Hotel Employees' Federation | Cyprus | 380 |
| Danish Typographical Union | Denmark | 11,387 |
| Danish Bookbinders' and Stationers' Union | Denmark | 8,951 |
| Danish Lithographers' Union | Denmark | 2,742 |
| Finnish Printers' and Bookbinders' Union | Finland | 23,454 |
| French Federation of Book Workers | France | 60,402 |
| Printing and Paper Union | West Germany | 158,180 |
| National Graphical Association | United Kingdom | 107,723 |
| Society of Graphical and Allied Trades | United Kingdom | 133,500 |
| Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers | United Kingdom | 21,261 |
| National Union of Wallcoverings, Decorative and Allied Trades | United Kingdom | 3,369 |
| Printing and Allied Workers' Union | Guyana | 500 |
| Hid Islenzka Prentarafelag | Iceland | 409 |
| Grafiska Sveinafelagid | Iceland | 89 |
| Indian Federation of Graphical Workers | India | 1,314 |
| Press Mazdoor Sabha | India | 1,550 |
| Irish Graphical Society | Ireland | 1,524 |
| National Union of Printing Workers in Israel | Israel | 3,960 |
| Italian Federation of Book Workers | Italy | 28,000 |
| Printers' and Bookbinders' Union in the Lebanese Republic | Lebanon | 600 |
| Federation of Printing Workers of Luxembourg | Luxembourg | 609 |
| Mauritius Printing Workers' Union | Mauritius | 104 |
| Norwegian Graphical Union | Norway | 14,123 |
| Typographical Union of Rhodesia | Rhodesia | 1,968 |
| South African Typographical Union | South Africa | 19,928 |
| Swedish Graphic Workers' Union | Sweden | 39,472 |
| Swiss Typographers' Union | Switzerland | 15,316 |
| Swiss Bookbinders' and Carton Makers' Union | Switzerland | 3,324 |
| Swiss Lithographers' Union | Switzerland | 6,279 |
| Press Workers' Union of Turkey | Turkey | 4,497 |
| Union of Commercial and Industrial Workers | Trinidad and Tobago | 396 |
| Graphic Arts International Union | United States | 91,394 |
Leadership
editSecretaries
edit- 1949: Karl Woerler
- 1964: Heinz Göke
- 1981: Alfred Kaufmann
- 1990: Bob Tomlins
- 1994: Chris Pate
- 1997: Olav Boye
Chairs
edit- 1949: Adolf Schäfer[8]
- 1955: Friedrich Segessenmann[8]
- 1958: Ernst Leuenberger
- 1967: John Bonfield
- 1976: Leonhard Mahlein
- 1983: Erwin Ferlemann
- 1994: Rene van Tilborg
References
edit- ^ Docherty, James C.; van der Velden, Sjaak (2012). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Scarecrow Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0810879881.
- ^ "International Graphical Federation (IGF)". Open Yearbook. UIA. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ a b c Bain, Peter; Gennard, John (2005). A History of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades. Routledge. pp. 269–270. ISBN 1134790902.
- ^ "International Graphical Federation Archives". International Institute of Social History. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ Windmuller, John (1979). The Shape of Transnational Unionism: International Trade Secretariats. United States Bureau of International Labor Affairs. p. 41.
- ^ "FAQs". UNI Global Union. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ Coldrick, Percy; Jones, Philip (1979). The International Directory of the Trade Union Movement. New York: Facts on File. pp. 66–70. ISBN 0871963744.
- ^ a b Bundock, Clement (1959). The Story of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 556.