International Graphical Federation

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

International Graphical Federation
Native nameFédération graphique internationale
Founded13 May 1949
Date dissolved31 December 1999
Merged intoUnion Network International
Members1.2 million (1994)[1]
JournalJournal of the International Graphical Federation
AffiliationICFTU
Office locationMonbijoustrasse 73, Bern, Switzerland

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.[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

In 1979, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:[7]

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' and Stationers' 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
Italian Federation of Book WorkersItaly28,000
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
Swiss Typographers' UnionSwitzerland15,316
Swiss Bookbinders' and Carton Makers' UnionSwitzerland3,324
Swiss Lithographers' UnionSwitzerland6,279
Press Workers' Union of TurkeyTurkey4,497
Union of Commercial and Industrial WorkersTrinidad and Tobago396
Graphic Arts International UnionUnited States91,394

Leadership

Secretaries
1949: Karl Woerler
1964: Heinz Göke
1981: Alfred Kaufmann
1990: Bob Tomlins
1994: Chris Pate
1997: Olav Boye

Chairs
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
  1. Docherty, James C.; van der Velden, Sjaak (2012). Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. Scarecrow Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-0810879881.
  2. "International Graphical Federation (IGF)". Open Yearbook. UIA. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  3. Bain, Peter; Gennard, John (2005). A History of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades. Routledge. pp. 269–270. ISBN 1134790902.
  4. "International Graphical Federation Archives". Archives Portal Europe. International Institute of Social History. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. Windmuller, John (1979). The Shape of Transnational Unionism: International Trade Secretariats. United States Bureau of International Labor Affairs. p. 41.
  6. "FAQs". UNI Global Union. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  7. Coldrick, Percy; Jones, Philip (1979). The International Directory of the Trade Union Movement. New York: Facts on File. pp. 66–70. ISBN 0871963744.
  8. Bundock, Clement (1959). The Story of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 556.
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