Printing and Kindred Industries Union

Last updated

PKIU
Printing and Kindred Industries Union
Merged into Australian Manufacturing Workers Union
Founded6 July 1966;57 years ago (1966-07-06)
DissolvedJanuary 1995;28 years ago (1995-01)
Headquarters377 Sussex St, Sydney [1]
Location
Members
60,000 (1970) [2]
PublicationPrinting Trades Journal
Affiliations ALP, ACTU, International Chemical Federation [1]

The Printing and Kindred Industries Union (PKIU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1966 and 1995. It represented production workers in the printing industry, including compositing, typesetting, letterpress printing, lithographic plate-making, electrotyping, stereotyping and bookbinding, and the manufacture of paper and cardboard products, such as paper bags, envelopes, cardboard boxes and cartons. Approximately half of all members were qualified tradespeople, with the remainder semi-skilled or unskilled workers. [2]

As in many other printing trade unions, the union members in each workplace were known as the 'Chapel', and the senior union delegate as the 'Father of the Chapel', while other elected officials were referred to as 'brothers'. [3]

History

Members of the Victorian Printers Operative Union, circa 1900 Victorian Printers Operative Union.png
Members of the Victorian Printers Operative Union, circa 1900

The PKIU was formed on 6 July 1966 through the amalgamation of the Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia (PIEU) and the Australian Printing Trades Employees' Union (APTEU). [2] At its formation the PKIU represented 50,000 members, out of a total of 53,000 unionists in the Australian printing industry, making it the sixth largest union in Australia and the eighth largest printing union in the English-speaking world. [4] : 300  Membership of the union increased to a peak of 60,000 in 1970. After this, membership entered a gradual decline as technological change in the printing industry reduced the number of jobs, with membership falling back to 50,000 by the end of the decade. [1] [2] In 1976 the union held an eight-and-a-half-week strike against John Fairfax and Sons over the introduction of computerised typesetting equipment. [1]

By the 1970s the union had established 100 percent membership in the newspaper section of the industry, and approximately 75 percent membership in the paper products sections. [1]

In 1986 the PKIU absorbed the Federated Photo Engravers, Photo-Lithographers and Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia, which had been active since 1910 as a small union of skilled workers in South Australian and Victorian newspaper offices. First registered federally in 1942 as the Federated Process Engravers, Photo-Lithographers and Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia, it changed its name to the Federated Photo Engravers, Photo-Lithographers and Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia in 1952. In 1992 the PKIU also absorbed the Victorian Printers Operatives' Union (VPOU). The VPOU had been registered in 1987, but existed well before this date as the Printing Trades General Workers' Union.

By 1992 membership had declined to 43,000 and three years later the PKIU amalgamated with the Automotive, Food, Metals and Engineering Union to become the printing division of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Manufacturing Workers Union</span> Trade union in Australia

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing sector, as well as associated industries, and is affiliated to the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exercised an outsized influence on the Australian Trade Union movement and on the Australian Labor Party throughout its history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union</span>

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union is Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry, maritime, mining, energy, textile, clothing and footwear production. The CFMMEU is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Labor Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick</span> Archive

The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collection on British industrial relations, as well as archives relating to many other aspects of British social, political and economic history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amalgamated Lithographers of America</span>

The Amalgamated Lithographers of America (ALA) is a labor union formed in 1915 to conduct collective bargaining on behalf of workers in the craft of lithography. The ALA was established through the amalgamation of several small unions already existing in the lithographic industry, one of which dated back to 1886.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union of Australia</span>

The Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union (F.M.W.U.), commonly known as the 'Missos', was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1992. It represented an extremely diverse and disparate range of occupations, but its core support came from workers employed in cleaning and security services.

The Federated Cold Storage and Meat Preserving Employees' Union (FCSMPEU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1908 and 1992. The union represented workers employed in refrigeration, and the production of ice, dairy products, preserved meat, fish, game and poultry in the southern states of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. The union was initially known as the Cold Storage Union of Victoria before changing its name in 1915. The union maintained 100 per cent membership, and most workplaces were closed shops.

The Australian Boot Trade Employees' Federation (ABTEF) was an Australian trade union which existed from 1908 to 1987. The union represented all workers employed in footwear manufacturing in Australia.

The Australian Textile Workers' Union (ATWU) was an Australian trade union which existed from 1919 to 1987. The ATWU represented Australian workers employed in the manufacture of textiles, including the spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing of all types of fibres. Later, the union also represented workers employed in manufacturing felt hatting.

The Clothing and Allied Trades Union of Australia (CATU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1907 and 1992. The CATU represented workers employed in the manufacture of clothing and manchester goods, including pressers, cutters and machinists. Approximately 85 percent of the union's membership was female.

Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia (FLAIEU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1992. It represented workers employed in hospitality, catering, breweries and alcohol retailing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia</span>

The Federated Ironworkers' Association of Australia (FIA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1911 and 1991. It represented labourers and semi-skilled workers employed in the steel industry and ironworking, and later also the chemical industry.

The Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia (PIEUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1966. It represented a range of production and trades workers in the printing industry.

The Federated Moulders' (Metals) Union of Australia (FMMUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1899 and 1983. It represented moulders – skilled tradesmen who fabricated the moulds for casting metal products in foundries. In spite of only organising within a single skilled occupation, which kept total membership low, the vital position of moulders in major industries such as mining, manufacturing and the railways, ensured that the union remained industrially powerful with a reputation for being highly militant.

The National Union of Wallcoverings, Decorative and Allied Trades (NUWDAT) was an industrial union representing workers connected with the manufacture of wallpaper in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Printing and Kindred Trades Federation</span> UK trade union federation

The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Graphical Federation</span> Former global union federation (1949–1999)

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

The United Society of Engravers was a trade union representing engravers, principally in the cotton industry, but also in the paper printing industry, in the United Kingdom.

Thomas George Newland was a British trade union leader.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Huntley, Pat (1980). Inside Australia's Top 100 Unions. Middle Cove, NSW: Ian Huntley (Aust.). pp. 212–215. ISBN   0-9598507-4-0.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Marjoribanks, Timothy (2000). News Corporation, Technology and the Workplace: Global Strategies, Local Change . Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  3. ↑ Evans, David Sidney (2014). Not an Ordinary Life. Coogee Creations. ISBN   978-1634618717.
  4. ↑ Hagan, James (1966). Printers and Politics: a History of the Australian Printing Unions, 1850-1950. Canberra: Australian National University Press. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. ↑ Bruce A. Smith. "Australian Trade Union Archives". Trade Union Entry:Printing and Kindred Industries Union. Australian Trade Union Archives . Retrieved 1 June 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.