Printing and Kindred Trades Federation

The Printing and Kindred Trades Federation (P&KTF) was a trade union federation in the United Kingdom.

The federation was established in 1890 by eleven unions in the printing industry. Two years later, they one more union finalised the establishment. However, the industry was divided between the unions representing members in London and those in the rest of the country, and the London-based unions withdrew from the federation soon after. During the 1890s, the organisation was very loose and achieved little. However, it was re-founded in 1902 by nine unions, again including those based in London, and thereafter led more joint activity, including an annual conference.

In 1919, the federation supported the establishment of the Joint Industrial Council for the Printing and Allied Trades, and organised an industry-wide agreement on holidays and working hours. It grew to include 23 members in 1927, and although there was a gradual process of mergers among its affiliates, the total number of workers it represented generally grew, reaching 320,000 in 1956, and 405,000 in 1971. The federation continued to negotiate agreements on sick pay, redundancy and pensions, although it never involved itself in the setting of wages themselves.

The P&KTF was run by a large administrative council, on which each union had at least one representative, but larger unions had several - at its peak, the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT) had 33 members of the council. One seat was reserved for a woman, while the other seats were consistently filled by men. The administrative council elected an executive committee of fifteen members, a president and vice president, while a general secretary, assistant general secretary and assistant secretary carried out most of the work of the federation.

By the 1970s, continued mergers had reduced the role of the P&KTF. Two of the three unions with the largest number of print workers, the National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants (NATSOPA) and SOGAT, voted to disband the federation in 1972. Although they were defeated by the smaller members, SOGAT decided not to attend any further meetings of the federation. The remaining members attempted to reorganise the federation as the "Printing Trade Unions Co-ordinating Bureau", but NATSOPA was unhappy with the planned financial arrangements, and declared it would not remain part of such an organisation. The organisation decided that there was no point in continuing without the two largest unions in the sector and voted to dissolve in December 1973.

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