About GCIU

The GCIU was established July 1, 1983, with the merger of the Graphic Arts International Union (GAIU) and the International Printing and Graphic Communications Union (IPGCU). But the GCIU's story began more than a century ago when printing industry workers began to form craft-oriented organizations.

Today, the GCC/IBT represents U.S. and Canadian workers in all craft and skill areas in the printing and publishing industry. GCC/IBT members work in desktop publishing and digital color prepress. They operate web and sheetfed, rotogravure, silkscreen and other specialty presses. They handle binding, finishing, and shipping of finished products. They produce inks, paper, and packaging materials made of paper, plastic, cardboard, and metal. GCC/IBT members are also journalists, graphic artists, typesetters, sales people, and support staff.

GCC/IBT members work in shops that range in size from local firms with a handful of employees to national and multinational companies that employ thousands of workers. They work in all printing and publishing segments: newspapers; periodicals; book printing and binding; general commercial; prepress services; business forms; quick printing; greeting cards; label and wrapper printing; packaging; blankbooks and binders; specialty printing; tag, ticket and tape printing; thermography; platemaking and other trade services; trade binding; and financial and legal printing.

GCC/IBT members have received recognition for their high levels of skill and productivity in their workplaces. These important factors play a significant role in making printing and publishing one of the leading industries in the United States and Canada.

Throughout its history, the GCC/IBT and its local unions have worked hard to develop and nurture cooperative relationships with employers. These cooperative efforts have helped to increase profits, improve productivity, and facilitate the introduction of new technology. In 1993, the International union and the Graphic Arts Employers of America (GAE) signed an unprecedented statement of commitment to this kind of cooperation between the GCC/IBT and its union employers.

One of the most difficult but also rewarding aspects of printing today is the nearly completed switch to digital technology. Information to be printed can be sent around the globe through telephone, satellite and removable computer disk technology. This digital information can be manipulated and finalized by desktop publishing and color electronic prepress equipment. Information can be scanned, put onto plates and printed on presses controlled by computer-based technology. Although such traditional skills as film stripping and developing and dot etching are still used in many shops, the majority of GCC/IBT members from prepress to shipping now work with computer-based equipment. The GCC/IBT is helping to meet the challenge of changing technology through its education and training programs and its local union schools.

AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney, center, attends a GCC/IBT General Board meeting. At right is GCC/IBT Pres. George Tedeschi. At left is GCC/IBT Secy.-Treas. Gerald H. Deneau.

Materials produced by GCC/IBT members may bear the GCIU and Allied Printing labels. These union labels are symbols of the quality, skill and pride that GCC/IBT members put in their work.

In addition to providing local unions with assistance in collective bargaining, grievance handling, organizing, safety and health, education and training, and other services, the GCC/IBT fights for workers' rights and welfare through political action in cooperation with the Teamsters, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). The GCC/IBT keeps its members informed through its official publication, the Graphic Communicator and its web site.

GCC/IBT headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The GCC/IBT participates worldwide in printing union affairs through its membership in the Union Network International (UNI). The GCC/IBT also sends representatives to meetings of the International Labor Organization (ILO), whose delegates from government, business, and unions set global workplace standards.

GCC/IBT and local officers, members, and their families are active in the community services program coordinated by the AFL-CIO. Through links with such groups as the Red Cross and United Way, union community service representatives help working families every day in cities and towns across the United States.