The merger of the Irish Print Union and the Marine Port and General Workers' Union with SIPTU, bringing a further 6,000 members to the union, was celebrated at a gathering in Liberty Hall yesterday.
The MPGWU was originally mainly organised among maritime workers, but in recent years organised taxi drivers, commercial travellers and sales representatives, as well as factory and white collar workers.
The IPU has its origins in the Dublin Typographical Provident Society, founded in 1809, but included in its history a number of mergers with workers in the publishing and printing trades.