Graphics, Photo & Publishing

International Photo-Engravers' Union of North America (IPEU) was a labor union formed in 1904 to represent halftone photoengravers in the printing industry. Its successor union is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Change to Win Federation. more...

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Formation of publishing unions

For several centuries, wood engraving had dominated the publishing industry as the source of graphics. The invention of photography and halftone printing created a new kind of graphic worker -- photoengravers. By the mid 1890s, halftone printing had largely replaced wood engraving in the publishing industry.

Although wood engravers had never formed a union, photoengravers did so almost upon the creation of their industry. The first American photoengravers' union, Photo-Engravers of America, was formed in 1886 in New York City.

In 1894, the International Typographical Union (ITU) chartered its first photoengraver's affiliate, New York Photo-Engravers' Union No. 1. The ITU organized a number of photoengravers' unions over the next several years. But many photoengravers felt the ITU leadership, dominated by typographers, did not adequately represent their interests.

In 1899, ITU Photo-Engraver's Union No. 1 went on strike to demand a 48-hour work week. The ITU refused to sanction the walkout, fearing employer retaliation against typographers. The photo-engravers' strike succeeded, which led many photoengravers' unions to conclude that they no longer needed the protection of the ITU.

Formation of IPEU

A number of photoengraving locals held a national convention in Philadelphia in November 1900. Photoengravers from the ITU voted to disaffiliate and — along with some independent unions — voted to establish the International Photo-Engravers' Union of North America.

The ITU, then the American Federation of Labor's largest member, prevented AFL president Samuel Gompers from officially recognizing IPEU for several years. In May 1904, however, ITU agreed to give up jurisdiction over photoengravers and the AFL issued a charter to IPEU.

IPEU's first president was Louis Flader.

Although IPEU only had 2,000 members at its founding, by 1910 the union represented more than 90 percent (7,000) of all photoengravers in the United States and Canada.

IPEU's first two decades

IPEU was the first union in the U.S. to secure a shorter work-week for its members. In addition, because of the chemical hazards involved in halftone photoengraving, the IPEU was also one of the first unions in the country to compel employers to establish health and safety standards.

In 1905, IPEU won the first binding arbitration clause in a contract, and by 1912 the clause was standard throughout the publishing industry.

Read more at Wikipedia.org