Union Printers Home Cache

This cache was transferred owners from Tim Usko to Harpster68

A cache and Dash with History

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The Building's on the other side of the fence were founded in 1892,and have a rich history.

General William Jackson Palmer donated the land that became the Colorado Springs Union Printers home in 1892, part of The International Typographical Union (ITU) which was a labor union founded on May 3, 1852 in the United States as the National Typographical Union. In its 1869 convention in Albany, New York, the union—having organized members in Canada—changed its name to the International Typographical Union. A 1986 merger vote, series of local mergers, and a 1988 jurisdictional agreement led to most of the ITU's mailers joining the IBT while the remaining typographers of the ITU joined the CWA. As of its dissolution in 1986, the ITU was the oldest surviving trade union in the United States.

The 1959 ITU convention at Philadelphia passed an action to move the ITU headquarters and after 73 years in Indianapolis, it was decided that the headquarters would be moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building began in 1961, the new ITU Headquarters (225 S. Union Blvd) and ITU Training Center (301 S. Union Blvd) being located on the grounds of the Union Printers Home (101 S. Union Blvd). The final move to Colorado Springs of President Elmer Brown and the Executive Council was completed in February 1963.

On December 31, 1986, the Associated Press printed the following with a dateline of Colorado Springs, Colorado:
The International Typographical Union has ceased to exist, and most of its staff was laid off at national headquarters here. Most of the 60 workers are continuing on a temporary basis with the Communication Workers of America, with which the ITU merged, said ITU spokesman Bill Frazee. The ITU ended operations on December 31, 1986. On January 1, 1987, the union joined the CWA as its Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector. CWA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. and employees working for the sector will transfer there in two to four months, Frazee said. The International Typographical Union was the nation's oldest union, charted nationally in 1852. Its membership peaked in the 1960s at 100,000 printers. But since computerization of the business, membership has dropped to 40,000 working printers and 35,000 retirees.

Some of the old buildings currently serve as storage, maintenance and laundry buildings for the nearby health care facilities. While still operating under the Union Printing Home name, it's unclear how much, if any operations still serve as its original function.

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