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The International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union (IPPAU), Salt Lake City, Local No. 148 was organized on 27 December 1902, three years after the organization of IPPAU itself. The purpose of this local union is stated in Article II, Section 2 of their constitution:
The objects of this Union shall be the maintenance of a fair rate of wages, the encouragement of good workmen, and to use every means which may tend to the elevation of the pressmen and assistants in the social scale of life.
While this small collection at the Utah State Historical Society
yields very little historical background on the Salt Lake City, Local No. 148,
the web-site of the Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU), offers
more information about the history of the International Printing Pressmen and
Assistants' Union (IPPAU) in general. The following two paragraphs are quoted
from that web-site:
The Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU) is the product of a series of mergers between five predecessor craft unions: the Amalgamated Lithographers of America (ALA); the International Photo Engravers Union (IPEU); the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders (IBB); the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union (IPPAU); and the International Stereotypers and Electrotypers Union (ISEU). The first major union of printers was founded in 1852 as the National Typographical Union and was renamed the International Typographical Union (ITU) in 1869. The pressmen were the first to break their ties with the (ITU). The work process for the compositor had stood still, while the pressroom had undergone 50 years of mechanization. When the ITU refused to recognize the special skills involved by adding pressmen to its name, the craftsmen formed the International Printing Pressmen's Union (IPPU) in October 1889. In recognition of the growing numbers and role of assistants, the IPPU changed its name in 1896 to the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union (IPPAU).
For 75 years the segment unions maintained their autonomy. This philosophy was successful until the 1960s. The industry had grown substantially, corporate mergers increased, and technology continued to advance. The Graphic Communications International Union was chartered on July 1, 1983, and became the dominant union in the printing industry in the United States and Canada.
The materials in this collection are organized by subject. The first box contains the union's constitution, applications for membership, membership certificates, various publications (including Constitution and Laws of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America, Vol. 1, 1970; and Constitution and By- laws, Salt Lake City Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union No. 148, 1902), as well as financial records of the local group. Box 2 contains financial records. Two oversize items, cash receipts books with entries dating from 1942 to 1951, are located in the oversize B-181 collection.
International Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, Salt Lake City Local Records, 1907-1969, Utah State Historical Society.
Gift of Buddie D. Wardle.
The International Pressmen and Assistants Union of North America, Salt Lake City Local Records are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.