Walsh (pictured), who now works with international trade union UniGlobal in Geneva, was in Australia recently, and spoke about recent agreements that UniGlobal had struck with Amcor and Kimberley Clark on the rights of workers in developing nations such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

He said that while labour rights were a key focus in developing nations, workers in Australia, the US and Europe had a different set of challenges.

“It’s really quite scary the numbers of jobs that are being lost in the print and packaging sector as companies close or merge,” he said.

“The advancements in technology such as e-books are certainly having an impact on the book industry, as is the move towards electronic communications.”

Walsh added that despite the contracting nature of the printing industry, there were still a lot of opportunities.

“We may have seen the death of the small corner printer, churning out letterheads and business cards, but people still want quality, and that is where the industry’s future must be made,” he added.

“If you look at the major printers internationally such as RR Donnelley and Quad Graphics, you will see that every day they are announcing moves into logistics, going into providing a total communications package,” he said.

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