Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia
| Full name | Printing and Kindred Industries Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1966 |
| Date dissolved | January 1995 |
| merged into | Australian Manufacturing Workers Union |
| Members | 60,000 (1970) |
| Affiliation | ALP, ACTU, International Chemical Federation |
| Office location | 377 Sussex St, Sydney |
| Country | Australia |
The Printing and Kindred Industries Union (PKIU) was an Australian trade union which existed between 1966 and 1995. It represented clerical, administrative and production workers in the printing industry and the manufacture of paper and cardboard products. 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', while other elected officials were referred to as 'brothers'.
The PKIU was formed on 6 July 1966 through the amalgamation of the Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia (PIEU) and the Australian Printing Trades Employees' Union (APTEU). Membership of the union increased from an initial total of 50,000 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. In 1976 the union held an eight-and-a-half-week strike against John Fairfax and Sons over the use of computerized typesetting equipment.
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.
In 1888 the Western Australian Typographical Society formed. This union changed its name in 1900 to the Western Australian Typographical Industrial Union of Workers and became the Western Australian branch of the Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia in 1916. In 1917 the Printing Industries Employees Union of Australia (PIEUA) registered federally. The formation of the Victorian branch of the PIEUA only occurred in 1921 due to disputes between the small craft unions in the printing trade.
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