FNV Printing and Paper and FNV KIEM

This professional group played a significant role in the emergence of the labour movement in the 19th century, as their work meant they were able to read and write. Later, other professional groups in the graphic sector (lithographers, photographers and chemigraphers) also formed their own unions, all of which merged in 1946 to form the Algemene Nederlandse Grafische Bond (ANGB). The ANGB archives, held at the IISG since 1964, also contain the surviving documents of these older unions.

FNV KIEM was formed in 1998 through a merger of Druk en Papier FNV and the Kunstenbond FNV. The acronym stands for Art, Information, Entertainment and Media. Whereas Druk en Papier organised workers in the graphic industry, publishing, packaging and paper wholesaling, FNV KIEM became the trade union for employees, freelancers, the self-employed, new entrants and those leaving the workforce in the arts, the information industry and (multi-)media. In recent years, another split took place, with the majority joining the FNV in a new sector, namely Media & Culture. The arts sectors formed a new Kunstenbond, about which a blog had previously appeared.

The archives clearly show the enormous changes that have taken place in the graphic arts sector. Old professions died out, work disappeared or changed radically. The union tried to adapt and embarked on a process of modernisation, both within its own organisation and identity, and in its advocacy work and collective bargaining negotiations. The archives contain the meeting documents of the Executive Committee, the Union Executive and the Union Council, as well as the documents from the congresses. Collective agreement files for many companies and sectors have been preserved in the archives, including those of publishing houses, printing works, paper mills, media companies, the information industry, broadcasters, orchestras and pop musicians. In addition, there is much to be found regarding the largely unsuccessful attempts to renew the organisation and advocacy in collaboration with other unions, an endeavour that only really took shape with the formation of the new FNV in 2017.

Thanks to this new inventory, the material has been better described, classified and selected or destroyed in accordance with the IISG’s principles. When organising the material, it was decided to divide it into two separate archives: Druk en Papier for the period 1980–1998 and FNV-KIEM for the years after 1998 up to the merger with the FNV in 2016, for which a separate inventory was compiled. Also of significance is the material relating to international work, in which René van Tilborg, former chair and director of both unions, played a major role. He was also chair of the International Graphical Federation (IGF) from 1994 and of its successor, UNI Graphical, from 2000 to 2003. Printed collective agreement booklets, individual texts of collective agreements and social plans have been separated and will be included in a separate collection at the IISG, as will the printed annual reports. A large collection of photographs will later be described independently in its own collection. Archival material from Catholic predecessors will be transferred to the KDC in Nijmegen.

The new inventories were compiled by Jaap Grupstra and published on the IISG website. FNV Printing and Paper, see https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/ARCH02663. FNV KIEM, see https://search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/ARCH04536.

Further information on the history of these unions can be found in the book ’t Schild der solidariteit, edited by Peter Leisink and Herman Leisink (Amsterdam 1994), produced to mark the 125th anniversary. And for the period 1990–2003, in the book Ontkiemt. Renewal and Trade Union Work in the Arts, Information and Media, edited by Herman Leisink and Jan de Geus (Amsterdam 2003).