Local 517G formed in 1947 in London and has a rich history. The Graphic Communications International Union (GCIU) was the product of a succession of splits and then mergers within the printing craft unions. ,the International Typographical Union (ITU). Forming independent unions were the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders; International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union (IPPAU) ; the International Stereotypers and Electrotypers Union A succession of mergers got underway in 1964, when the Amalgamated Lithographers of America merged with the International Photoengravers Union (IPEU) to form the Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union (LPIU). THE IBB and the LPIU became the Graphic Arts International Union (GAIU) in 1972. The IPPAU merged with the ISEU in 1973 to form the International Printing and Graphic Communications Union (IPGCU). The IPGCU and the GAIU merged to form the Graphic Communications International Union in 1983.
