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 A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

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) of ...

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

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
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 opposin ...

. 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 remuner ...

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 Demarcation is the act of creating a boundary around a place or thing. Demarcation may also refer to: *Demarcation line, a temporary border between the countries *Demarcation problem, the question of which practices of doing science permit the re ...

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
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

National Society of Decorative Glass Workers of the United Kingdom National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, 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 Decem ...

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 The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

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