ABSTRACT

This chapter considers factors which have stimulated or delayed the adoption of the available new techniques by the industry. It examines role which the trade unions in the printing industry have played in relation to technological change. In the printing industry, for example, the powderless etching technique won rapid acceptance and has been installed by many firms, while in contrast, filmsetting has displaced hot-metal typesetting only to a very limited extent. In the case of the process engravers the numbers entering the trade have been severely limited as a result of trade union pressure, which suggests an incidental benefit of the apprenticeship ratios operated in the industry, in that they can be used to prevent uninformed entry to the trade. Merit payments are widespread in the industry, and one would expect that a person with a mastery of a new skilled process as well as an old would be rewarded accordingly, in line with his enhanced value to other firms.