The International Graphical Federation (IGF) 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 (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.
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:
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 Secretaries 1949: Karl Woerler 1964: Heinz Göke 1981: Alfred Kaufmann 1990: Bob Tomlins 1994: Chris Pate 1997: Olav Boye 1997: Adriana Rosenzvaig 2000: Adriana Rosenzvaig
Chairs 1949: Adolf Schäfer 1955: Friedrich Segessenmann 1958: Ernst Leuenberger 1967: John Bonfield 1976: Leonhard Mahlein 1983: Erwin Ferlemann 1994: Rene van Tilborg
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