The Sign and Display Trades Union (SDTU) was a British
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
that existed between 1917 and 1972.
Formed in 1917 as the National Union of Sign, Glass and Ticket Writers and Kindred Trades it represented workers engaged as a
sign,
glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
,
poster or
ticket
Ticket or tickets may refer to:
Slips of paper
* Lottery ticket
* Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start)
* Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...
writer, or in any branch of subsidiary and allied trades.
[University of Warwick Archive: SDT](_blank)
Retrieved December 2010
The union remained active during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Between 1939-44, correspondence covered general union matters such as
wage
A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', '' prevailing wage'', and ''yearly bonuses,'' and remune ...
claims and holiday allowances and a Cinema Poster Trade Joint Agreement was negotiated.
In 1944, the Sign and Display Trades Union signed an agreement of mutual recognition with the
National Association of Theatrical and Kine Employees (NATKE), acknowledging the
demarcation between the two unions in the cinema industry.
The National Union of Sign, Glass and Ticket Writers and Kindred Trades changed its name to the Sign and Display Trades Union in 1945.
[University of Warwick Archive: TUC SDTU records](_blank)
Retrieved December 2010
In 1949 two other unions, the
Northern Glass Workers' Employees' Association
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
and the
, transferred their engagements to the Sign and Display Trades Union.
In 1958 the SDTU was involved in a dispute with Glasgow
neon sign
In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in D ...
manufacturers; ''Laird Neon''.
Glasgow University Principal,
Hector Hetherington
Sir Hector James Wright Hetherington (21 July 1888 – 15 January 1965) was a Scottish philosopher, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 1927 to 1936, and Principal of the University of Glasgow until 1961.
Early life
H ...
, was appointed as arbitrator.
In 1972 the union transferred its engagements to the
National Society of Operative Printers, Graphical and Media Personnel. At this point, it had fewer than 500 members.
[John Gennard and Peter Bain, ''A History of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades'', p.41. , ]
General Secretaries
:1923–1938: J. G. Copeland
:1937–1972: A. C. Torode
References
{{reflist
External links
Catalogue of the SDTU archives held at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Trade unions established in 1917
Trade unions disestablished in 1972
Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom
1917 establishments in the United Kingdom
Printing trade unions
Trade unions based in London