Professor John Gennard of the Strathclyde Business School in Glasgow, Scotland, advised GCIU General Board members about the rise of multinational graphical companies and the response of European graphical unions.

He indicated from a technical study that "If graphical unions are...to counter-balance successfully the growing power of graphical and media multinational corporations, establishing effective transnational trade union structures and cooperation is crucial."

In addition to a 15-page report Gennard handed out to board members at the March meeting, he spent more than an hour describing the fierce global market and how unions need to work together as cooperatively as possible outside their national borders.

Gennard said in his report that "there are at least three important reasons why national based graphical unions need to extend their activities beyond national boundaries – corporate structure, growth of multinational companies, and the diverse employment practices of multinational companies."

He continued: "Graphical multinationals have emerged – and continue to expand – within or between countries by mergers and acquisitions of, in particular, medium-sized organizations. North American and U.K. [United Kingdom] graphical and packaging multinational companies have been particularly prominent in this trend.

"In 2002, 42 North American-owned graphical companies employing 25,000 people operated in the U.K. and Ireland. Quebecor World (Canadian owned) has subsidiaries in Germany, Sweden, Finland, France, the U.K., and Spain. R.R. Donnelley (U.S.A. owned) has more than 100 manufacturing facilities, sales, and service centers in seven European countries. De La Rue (U.K. owned) has employees in four European countries and in the U.S.A. and prints 60 percent of the world's bank notes.

"SCA, a Swedish packaging company, employs 34,000 people worldwide of which a third are in the EU [European Union]. Tetra-Lavel, also a Swedish packaging company, has operations in 165 countries. Crown, Cork, and Seal – a U.S.A. packaging company – has plants in six European countries.

"The growth of graphical multinational companies means graphical workers in different parts of the world are increasingly becoming employed by the same companies. The employers with whom the Graphical Paper and Media Union negotiates in the U.K. are increasingly the same as those with whom, for example, the GCIU, the Swedish Graphical Workers, and Ver di (Medien) negotiate in their countries," according to the report.

The report also dealt with diverse employment practices, obstacles to building transnational structures, the response of graphical unions, world company councils, coordinated collective bargaining, bilateral links, technical assistance, and how the De La Rue European employee forum works.