Graphic Communications Conference


The Graphic Communications Conference is an International Brotherhood of Teamsters affiliated union which represents more than 60,000 workers in all craft and skill areas in the printing and publishing industry.

Scope of union work

Every day, GCC members help print, produce, and design numerous publications and products, including: The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Newsday, Elle, and Cosmopolitan magazines; HarperCollins and Penguin Books; brochures for Chevrolet; Harry Potter books; and catalogs for L.L.Bean.
GCC Teamsters work in desktop publishing and electronic color prepress. They operate web and sheetfed, offset, letterpress, rotogravure, silkscreen, and other specialty presses. They handle binding, finishing, and shipping of finished products. They produce inks, paper, and packaging materials made of paper, plastic, cardboard, and metal. They are also journalists, graphic artists, typesetters, sales people, and support staff.

Composition

According to GCC's Department of Labor records since 2006, when membership classifications were first reported, the "active" membership of the union has fallen from 60% to 45%. The other—now 55%—half of the union's membership are classified as "honorary," and are described as retirees who pay no dues and are ineligible to vote in the union. GCC contracts also cover some non-members, known as agency fee payers, which since 2006 have numbered comparatively less than a percent of the size of the union's membership, or about 100 non-members paying agency fees.

History

The conference was created after the Graphic Communications International Union voted to join forces with Teamsters in late 2004.
The merger enables the now-stronger Teamsters Union to represent even more workers in printing and related industries. For example, the GCC and the Teamsters Newspaper Division represent different but complementary types of employees at many major newspapers, such as the Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Columbus Dispatch and The Star-Ledger in New Jersey.
George Tedeschi currently serves as President.
The Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 767M is the successor union of several merged printers' locals spanning back into the late 1800s. The local unions have been affiliated with different international unions over time.

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