The recent merger of the Typographical Association and the London Typographical Society has not infused any militancy into the new union, the National Graphical Association. The new union still remains, as the old T.A. did, politically to the right and little-known outside the trade, Anexcellent opportunity for rectifying at least a part of this was agein missed (or rejected?) as a prominent member of the London Region, JR. Foskett, pointed out in the July issue of the Graphical Journal under "Letters to the editor".
The letter drew attention to the fact that while the L.T.S., which still functions to a certain degree autonomously within the union, had placed May Day advertisements in the Daily Herald, Sunday Citizen, Tribune and Labour Monthly the N.G.A. had not. As well as missing an opportunity to emphasise the arrival of the N.G.A. and to show that the printing unions are forward looking, example the merger, the union once again remained in the’ background over the struggle for a socialist Britain,
Surely its time the ‘active! socialist left within the union educated its fellow trade unionists that the union has moved from the old conception of craft guilds to a union with a fight on its hands, one which every true trade unionist within the union must take part in. ED. NOTE: can other trade unionists, especially those in similar unions to the N.G.A., relate their experiences on such questions? Even in the most right wing of unions issues such as these can be taken up.