Print trade unions

From the mid-19th century, compositors and pressmen in letterpress trade were represented Scottish Typographical Association, though not all workers in the industry were members. Before that many towns had local Typographical Societies which provided benefits to sick and out of work members, sometimes as part of wider federations – some of these membership records have survived. You can download a list of surviving Scottish print trade union archives: most of the unions produced printed journals or circulars, which provide details about local branches and information about the printing industry and sometimes include profiles of members and obituaries.

The printing side of the lithographic trade was organised from the 1880s by the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers. The origination side was represented by the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers (SLADE) from the 1880s. A number of other unions represented workers such as machine rulers, workers in the papermaking industry, bookbinders, typefounders and various ancilliary workers such as warehousemen.

In the twentieth century as technologies and the demands of the workplace changed, the various print unions amalgamated: a timeline of the main developments in Scotland is given below. Since 2007, workers in the printing and allied trades have been represented by Unite the Union’s Graphical Media and Paper Sector.

1822: the Edinburgh Union Society of Journeyman Bookbinders was established
1836: the General Typographical Association of Scotland (GTAS) was formed
1844: the GTAS became the Northern Region of the National Typographical Association: the NTA collapsed in 1848
1853: the Scottish Typographical Association (STA) was formed: the federal organisation of local branches represented compositors and press/machinemen in the letterpress trade
1860: the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers and Auxiliaries of Great Britain and Ireland (ASLP) was formed
1872: the Edinburgh Union Society of Journeyman Bookbinders joined the Bookbinders and Machine-Rulers Consolidated Union
1885: the Society of Lithographic Artists, Designers, Engravers and Process Workers (SLADE) was established
1889: the Print Labourers’ Union, later known as the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA), was formed
1893: the Federated Society of Electrotypers and Sterotypers (FSES) was established, renamed the Federated Society of Electrotypers, Stereotypers and Assistants in 1915
1911: the STA formed a women’s branch (the Edinburgh Female Compositors’ Society) in Edinburgh
1917: the FSES renamed itself as the National Society of Electrotypers,  Stereotypers and Assistants (NSES)
1918: the STA established an Auxiliary Section open to ‘non-craft’ print workers in Scotland
1966: SOGAT was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding, Machine-ruling and Paper Workers (NUPB&PW) and NATSOPA. Following problems over integration the amalgamation was dissolved in 1972.
1973: the STA became the Scottish Graphical Association (SGA)
1975: the SGA amalgamated with the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT) to form SOGAT (75)
1975: NATSOPA merged with SOGAT (75) to form SOGAT (82)
1982: NATSOPA amalgamated with the National Graphical Association (NGA) and SOGAT in 1982 to form NGA (1982)
1991: GPMU (Graphical, Paper and Media Union) was created, bringing NGA and SOGAT together
2004: GPMU transferred its members into AMICUS, becoming the Graphical, Paper and Media Branch of that union
2007: AMICUS and the Transport & General Workers Union merged to form Unite the Union, which has a Graphical, Paper and Media Sector

Many documents, which might have been handwritten in other trades, were printed as a matter of course, for example pay claims, or memorials, put to the employers, such as this one addressed ot the master printers in Edinburgh.

Over time the rules and agreements governing the wages and conditions of the workers changed, and the rule books and pay scales were printed for the use of members:

Edinburgh Typographical Society

Scottish Typographical Association

You can read an account of the 1893 dispute in GLasgow, known as the Evening Citizen lock-out on the St Bride’s Library blog.

Histories of print trade unions include:

  • Bundock, Clement J. The story of the National Union of Printing, Bookbinding and Paper Workers. Oxford,: Oxford University Press, 1959
  • Gennard, John. A history of the National Graphical Association. London: Unwin Hyman, 1990
  • Gennard, John, and Peter Bain. A history of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades. London: Routledge, 1995
  • Gillespie, Sarah. A hundred years of progress: the record of the Scottish Typographical Association 1853-1952. Glasgow: Scottish Typographical Association, 1953
  • Moran, James. NATSOPA: Seventy-five years: National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants, 1889-1964. London: National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants, 1964
  • Sproat, Thomas (comp). The history and progress of the Amalgamated Society of Lithographic Printers and Auxiliaries of Great Britain and Ireland, 1880-1930: Jubilee souvenir. [Manchester: ASLP], 1930