International Graphical Federation


The International Graphical Federation was a global union federation bringing together unions of printing workers around the world.

History

Moved 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. 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.
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.
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.
The IGF affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, but suspended its membership in 1967 in protest at the French Federation of Book Workers, communist union from France being permitted to affiliate to the ICFTU.
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.

Affiliates

In 1979, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:
UnionCountryAffiliated membership
Union of Printing and PaperAustria24,272
Paper and Publishing Industry UnionBelgium15,219
Sindicato de Artes Graficas de BogotaColombia101
Cyprus Industrial and Hotel Employees' FederationCyprus380
Danish Typographical UnionDenmark11,387
Danish Bookbinders' UnionDenmark8,951
Danish Lithographers' UnionDenmark2,742
Finnish Printers' and Bookbinders' UnionFinland23,454
French Federation of Book WorkersFrance60,402
Printing and Paper UnionWest Germany158,180
National Graphical AssociationUnited Kingdom107,723
Society of Graphical and Allied TradesUnited Kingdom133,500
Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process WorkersUnited Kingdom21,261
National Union of Wallcoverings, Decorative and Allied TradesUnited Kingdom3,369
Printing and Allied Workers' UnionGuyana500
Hid Islenzka PrentarafelagIceland409
Grafiska SveinafelagidIceland89
Indian Federation of Graphical WorkersIndia1,314
Press Mazdoor SabhaIndia1,550
Irish Graphical SocietyIreland1,524
National Union of Printing Workers in IsraelIsrael3,960
Federazione Italiana Lavoratori del LibroItaly28,000
Printers' and Bookbinders' Union in the Lebanese RepublicLebanon600
Fédération Luxembourgeoise des Travailleurs du LiverLuxembourg609
Mauritius Printing Workers' UnionMauritius104
Norwegian Graphical UnionNorway14,123
Typographical Union of RhodesiaRhodesia1,968
South African Typographical UnionSouth Africa19,928
Swedish Graphic Workers' UnionSweden39,472
Schweizerischer TypographenbundSwitzerland15,316
Schweizerischer Buchbinder und KartonagerverbandSwitzerland3,324
Schwiezerischer LithographenbundSwitzerland6,279
Press Workers' Union of TurkeyTurkey4,497
Union of Commercial and Industrial WorkersTrinidad and Tobago396
Graphic Arts International UnionUnited States91,394

Leadership

Secretaries

Chairs