The International Typographers' Secretariat (ITS) was a

global union federation A global union federation (GUF) is an international List of federations of trade unions, federation of national trade unions organizing in specific industry sectors or occupational groups. Historically, such federations in the social democratic t ...

bringing together unions of printers around the world.

History

An International Typographical Congress was held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in July 1889, and this led to a determination to form a permanent organisation. This was established in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

in 1892, as the International Printers' Secretariat. It held further congresses in Geneva in 1896, Lucerne in 1901, Paris in 1907, and Stuttgart in 1912. In 1939, the federation agreed to merge with the Lithographers' International and the International Federation of Bookbinders and Kindred Trades. However, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, no progress was made until 1946, when the British

Printing and Kindred Trades Federation The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom. History The federation was established at a conference in Manchester on 8 September 1890, organised on the initiative of George D. Kelley. The ...

established a committee which drafted a constitution for a merged organisation. This was established in 1949, as the

International Graphical Federation The International Graphical Federation (IGF) was a global union federation bringing together unions of printing workers around the world. History Moved to establish the federation began in 1939, when the Lithographers' International, Internati ...

Affiliates

As of 1910, the following unions were affiliated to the federation:

General Secretaries

:1893: Gottfried Reimann :1896: Friedrich Siebenmann :1902: Pierre Stautner :1921: Fritz Verdan :1926: Hans Grundbacher :1947: Gottfried Reinhard (acting)

References

{{Authority control Trade unions established in 1889 Trade unions disestablished in 1949 Global union federations Printing trade unions