The Danish Lithographers' Union () was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

representing printers in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The union was founded on 13 July 1895, and was originally called the Lithographers' Trade Association. Groups in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (after Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2025, the city proper had a population of 185,480 while Odense Municipality had a population of 210, ...

helped create the union. It was registered at the start of 1896, and by the end of the year, also had branches in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

and

Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...

. That year, it also launched a union journal, and began negotiations which led to an agreed minimum wage and agreed conditions of employment.International Federation of Lithographers, Printers and Kindred Trades (1936), ''Bulletin'', pp.19-20 The union joined the Lithographers' International in 1897, and the

Danish Confederation of Trade Unions LO, The Danish Confederation of Trade Unions ( Danish: ''LO, Landsorganisationen i Danmark'' or simply ''LO'') was founded in 1898 and was an umbrella organisation (the largest of the three national trade union centers in Denmark) for 18 Danish ...

in 1898. In 1903, the union established a section for process workers, followed in 1910 by one for stone and plate preparers. In 1962, the union formed the Graphic Workers' Cartel with the Danish Bookbinders' and Stationers' Union, and the Danish Typographical Union. However, this loose federation made no progress, and in 1965, the typographers resigned from the LO and the cartel. They rejoined LO in 1971, forming a new Graphics Cartel in 1972, but again this ran into disputes, and was dissolved in 1980. Finally, in 1990, the bookbinders, lithographers, typographers and the Media Federation formed a Graphic Industry and Media Cartel. In 1993, the four unions merged, to form the new

Graphics Federation The Graphics Federation (, GF) was a trade union representing workers in the graphics and printing industries in Denmark. For many years, the three main printing industry unions in Denmark, the Danish Bookbinders' and Stationers' Union, Danish L ...

.{{cite book , last1=Ebbinghaus , first1=Bernhard , last2=Visser , first2=Jelle , title=Trade Unions in Western Europe Since 1945 , date=2000 , publisher=Palgrave Macmillan , location=Basingstoke , isbn=0333771125 , page=178

References

Lithographers' trade unions Trade unions in Denmark Trade unions established in 1895 Trade unions disestablished in 1993