The Printing and Kindred Industries Union (PKIU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1966 and 1995. It represented production workers in the

printing industry Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

, including compositing, typesetting, letterpress printing, lithographic plate-making,

electrotyping Electrotyping (also galvanoplasty) is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi Moritz Hermann or Boris Semyonovich (von) Jacobi (russian: Борис Семёнови ...

, stereotyping and

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

, and the manufacture of paper and cardboard products, such as paper bags, envelopes, cardboard boxes and cartons. Approximately half of all members were qualified tradespeople, with the remainder semi-skilled or unskilled workers. As in many other printing trade unions, the union members in each workplace were known as the 'Chapel', and the senior union delegate as the '

Father of the Chapel A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

', while other elected officials were referred to as 'brothers'.

History

The PKIU was formed on 6 July 1966 through the amalgamation of the

Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia The Printing Industry Employees' Union of Australia (PIEUA) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1915 and 1966. It represented a range of production and trades workers in the printing industry. History The PIEUA was formed on 6 Dece ...

(PIEU) and the Australian Printing Trades Employees' Union (APTEU). At its formation the PKIU represented 50,000 members, out of a total of 53,000 unionists in the Australian printing industry, making it the sixth largest union in Australia and the eighth largest printing union in the English-speaking world. Membership of the union increased to a peak of 60,000 in 1970. After this, membership entered a gradual decline as technological change in the printing industry reduced the number of jobs, with membership falling back to 50,000 by the end of the decade. In 1976 the union held an eight-and-a-half-week strike against

John Fairfax and Sons Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

over the introduction of computerised typesetting equipment. By the 1970s the union had established 100 percent membership in the newspaper section of the industry, and approximately 75 percent membership in the paper products sections. In 1986 the PKIU absorbed the Federated Photo Engravers, Photo-Lithographers and Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia, which had been active since 1910 as a small union of skilled workers in South Australian and Victorian newspaper offices. First registered federally in 1942 as the ''Federated Process Engravers, Photo-Lithographers and Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia'', it changed its name to the ''Federated Photo Engravers, Photo-Lithographers and Photogravure Employees' Association of Australia'' in 1952. In 1992 the PKIU also absorbed the Victorian Printers Operatives' Union (VPOU). The VPOU had been registered in 1987, but existed well before this date as the ''Printing Trades General Workers' Union''. By 1992 membership had declined to 43,000 and three years later the PKIU amalgamated with the Automotive, Food, Metals and Engineering Union to become the printing division of the

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing se ...

References

{{Reflist Defunct trade unions of Australia Trade unions established in 1966 Trade unions disestablished in 1995 Printing trade unions 1966 establishments in Australia Industrial unions