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Printers Collection website goes live

24th August 2009

The Printers Collection, the archives and history of the printing and papermaking unions of the UK and Ireland, housed in the Marx Memorial Library, Clerkenwell, London is now available to print and paperworkers, trade unionists, students and historians worldwide on a new website.

In March 2009, the archive was opened by Unite joint general secretary Derek Simpson and Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke. The archive contains thousands of documents and memorabilia owned by the Graphical, Paper and Media Union, now part of Unite.

The website contains the history of the UK and Ireland's print and paper unions dating back to the creation of craft guilds of the Middle Ages; the first independent trade unions which were established in the mid 1700s with the formation of Bookbinders lodges in London and the Manchester Typographical Society and the Trade Union Congress in Manchester in 1868 by three print union officials.

The history of the print and paper unions was written by professor John Gennard of Strathclyde University. The website contains details of how to visit the archive, opening times, group bookings etc. Because of the large number of foreign visitors to the Marx Memorial Library every year the website has information on the archive in Welsh, German, Chinese, Polish, Italian and Russian.

In addition print and paper workers and trade unionists can leave messages and recollections and there are details of how donations of union memorabilia from the print and paper trade unions can be made to the archive.

Tony Burke said: "Many former GPMU branches, chapels and activists have contacted us wanting to donate some of their memorabilia. We are always interested in receiving memorabilia as we know this precious material will be carefully looked after and treasured by the library.

"We want to encourage trade unionists, especially print and paper workers, students and anyone else to visit the archive and look at this historic material. We are very proud that we have been able to donate the history of our unions to the archive. Our next task is to re-establish the memorial to print and paper trade unions who fought in the Spanish Civil War in the small garden at the library."

The Printers Collection and archive is situated in the Marx Memorial Library, 37a Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0DU, UK,

The website address for the printers collection is: http://www.printerscollection.org.uk

ENDS

For more information contact Tony Burke on 07831 659939 or Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite press office on 020 7420 7914 or 07980 224761.