Many of its founding members were immigrants from the United Kingdom who had held membership of the London Society of Compositors (LSC), and the new union's constitution was based on that of the LSC.
It published the South African Typographical Journal, which was one of the key cheerleaders for a Labour Party.
[4] The union admitted white and "coloured" workers on the same basis, although all non-whites faced prejudice.
It did not admit black or Asian workers, and opposed their involvement in the printing industry.
[5][6][7] In 1980, it finally began accepting black workers, and its membership increased to 26,818.