The Union of Printing and Paper (, GDP; ) 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 most printing industry workers in Switzerland. The union was founded in 1980, when the

Swiss Typographers' Union The Swiss Typographers' Union (, STB; ) was a trade union representing printers, based in Switzerland. The union was founded in 1858 in Olten, becoming the first enduring trade union in Switzerland. It achieved early success by negotiating wage i ...

merged with the

Swiss Bookbinders' and Carton Makers' Union The Swiss Bookbinders' and Carton' Makers' Union (, SBKV; ) was a trade union representing bookbinders, stationers and box makers in Switzerland. The union was founded on 9 June 1889, in Zürich, as the Swiss Bookbinders' Union, and in 1893, it jo ...

. Like both its predecessors, it affiliated to the

Swiss Trade Union Federation The Swiss Trade Union Federation (, SGB; ; , USS) is the largest national trade union center in Switzerland. History The federation was founded in 1880. The SGB has close ties with the Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SPS). Ruth Dreifuss ...

. The union was led by president Erwin Gerster, and in 1981 he faced competition for re-election from the president of the union's Zurich branch. During the count, the Zurich candidate was suspected of electoral fraud, and a criminal investigation led the union to announce that the election would be re-run. However, before it could do so, the Zurich candidate withdrew, and Gerster remained in office until 1989. The 1980s was a difficult time for the union, which found itself in a weakening position with regard to both employers and unskilled workers in the industry. By 1995, it had 13,876 members. With professional boundaries in the industry less important, in 1998 it merged with the Swiss Lithographers' Union, the Employees' Union of the Swiss Book Trade, and the Swiss Union of Journalists, to form Comedia.{{cite web , title=Gewerkschaft Druck und Papier (GDP) / Syndicat du livre et du papier / Sindacato del libro e della carta , url=https://www.findmittel.ch/Archive/archNeu/Ar410.html , website=Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv , access-date=4 December 2020

Central Presidents

:1980: Erwin Gerster :1989: Christian Tirefort

References

Printing trade unions Trade unions in Switzerland Trade unions established in 1980 Trade unions disestablished in 1998