Henri Berckmans (died 1950) was a Belgian trade union leader. Berckmans became a wood engraver, and by the 1910s, he was the secretary of the Union of Wood Engravers of Brussels. In 1913, he merged the union into the new Central Union of Workers in Lithography and Kindred Trades. The union's leader,

François Poels François Poels (12 April 1881 – 27 December 1926) was a Belgian trade union leader. Born in Elsene, Poels completed an apprenticeship as a lithographer. In 1906, he joined the Union of Lithographers in Brussels, becoming its deputy genera ...

, was seconded to government work during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, so Berckmans became acting general secretary. He took the position permanently in 1919, also becoming editor of the union's journal, ''De Arbeider der Graphische Kunsten''. In 1924, Berckmans took the union into a merger which formed the Union of Bookworkers of Belgium, becoming its general secretary, and editing its journal, ''De Boekbewerker''. In 1926, Poels died, and Berckmans was soon elected to succeed him as secretary of the

International Federation of Lithographers, Lithographic Printers and Kindred Trades The International Federation of Lithographers, Lithographic Printers and Kindred Trades (IFL) was a global union federation bringing together unions representing print workers. The federation was established in 1896 at a conference in London, as ...

. However, he was not successful in this role, and agreed to stand down in 1929. Berckmans retired from his trade union post in 1935, and found work at the Cartographic Institute.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berckmans, Henri Year of birth missing 1950 deaths Belgian trade unionists