ABSTRACT
The main employers’ organisation in the general printing trade in the UK was the British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF), known until 1974 as the British Federation of Master Printers (BFMP), which had been formed in 1901. Up to, and including, the 1980 wage negotiations, the Master Printers negotiated with the print unions jointly with the Newspaper Society (NS), formed in 1920 to represent the interests of firms engaged in the production of provincial daily and weekly (including London suburban) newspapers. The majority of NUPB&PW and subsequently SOGAT members were employed in the general printing industry and worked under the BPIF/BFMP agreements.
