| Printers and Unions - Typographical Associations and the TUC |
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Page 5 of 14 Typographical Associations and the TUCThe formation of the Typographical Association is complex, however, the union had a major influence on the development of the British trade union movement. A forerunner, the Northern Typographical Union, was founded in 1830. This was a federation of small, local societies in England and the Isle of Man, and included the well-established Manchester Typographical Society - founded in 1797. During the early 1840s, the Northern Typographical Union began organising compositors in southern towns, but suffered setbacks and reconstituted itself as the National Typographical Association in 1844. The London Union of Compositors had reconstituted itself as the South East Region, and the General Typographical Association of Scotland as the Northern Region. However, the organisation had insufficient income to cover disputes, and following a major strike in Edinburgh during 1848, it was forced to dissolve. The Association's South East Region re-established itself as a separate union, the London Society of Compositors. |
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| Last Updated on Friday, 14 August 2009 13:41 |
There are a number of ways you can help to support us. You can donate online. You can join the Library as an individual member and get your union branch to affiliate. If you are a retired or working print worker and would like to volunteer to take groups around the Collection, you can apply here to join our panel of volunteers.
The Printers’ Collection was launched in February 2009 by Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of UNITE. To mark the opening a full-colour and richly illustrated 64-page brochure has been published. It is available here priced £5.
We are preparing an online book of memories of print workers. You may want to share with us your experience of being an apprentice, of your working life or activity as a trade unionist. If so, please write here and we will include all or parts of it in the forthcoming section.
Unite the union - graphical, paper and media section has kindly donated a substantial part of its collection of print ephemera, memorabilia and records in the Printers’ Collection. But some of our best and most surprising items have been donated by individuals or local union chapels and branches. If you have a print related item, which, you believe, would be of interest to others and you wish to donate it or simply loan it, to the Collection include a short description of it here.
