The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups, being the largest union in these fields. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now part of Community.

History In 1917 Minister of Labour, John Hodge passed the Trade Unions' Amalgamation Act, which simplified the process whereby Trade Unions merged, amalgamated or federated. This was in response to both the difficulty of mergers under the previous legislation (requiring two-thirds majorities in favor in all participant unions), as well as a desire to push craft unions into general trade unions to cover entire industries.Men of Steel, Iron Steel Trades Confederation, p. 245. However, difficulties still remained. When the first three members federated in 1917, they were legally prevented from accepting any new members. The ISTC focused on industrial negotiations, and new members joined its subsidiary, the British Iron, Steel and Kindred Trades Association (BISAKTA); formally, unions which federated after 1917 joined this association.University of Warwick Modern Records Centre, "Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC), the British Iron, Steel and Kindred Trades Association (BISAKTA) and predecessors, (1865)-2004".

Trade unions that have amalgamated with or transferred engagements to the ISTC or BISAKTA and year it occurred:

British Steel Smelters, Mill, Iron and Tinplate Workers Union (1917) Associated Iron and Steel Workers of Great Britain (1917) National Steel Workers' Associated Engineering and Labour League (1917) Amalgamated Society of Steel and Iron Workers of Great Britain (1920) Tin and Sheet Millmen's Association (1921) Wire Workers Union (1922–24, 1991) National Union of Blastfurnacemen (1985) Power Loom Carpet Weavers and Textile Workers Union (2000) National League of the Blind and Disabled (2000)

The resultant union was named the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation. Members of the Amalgamated Association of Steel and Iron Workers of Great Britain and of the Tin and Sheet Millmens' Association voted against joining the union, but were later reballoted and voted in favour. The Wire Workers Union joined the confederation in 1922 but left in 1924, rejoining in 1991. Other members left in 1924 to form the Constructional Engineering Union.

From the 1980s, employment in the metalworking trades was in sharp decline, and membership of the ISTC dropped in line with this. In 1984, the existing ISTC was legally absorbed by BISAKTA, which took on the ISTC name.

In later years the union also built up representation amongst workers in the electronics industry, plastics and glass, the manufacture of kitchen furniture, carpet production, and call centres. Expansion was especially strong in areas with major steel industry installations.

Responding to the contraction of the British manufacturing sector, the ISTC expanded into new areas in 2000. Both the NLBD and PLCWTWU pre-dating the ISTC having been formed as a trade union in 1899 and 1866 respectively.The Carpet Weavers of Kidderminster. Arthur MarshMalthouse Press Oxford, p. 74.

In 2004, the ISTC merged with the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades (KFAT) to form a new organisation called Community.

Election results The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election.

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position 1918 general election Kidderminster 9,760 42.0 2 Manchester Gorton 13,047 67.4 1 Pontypool 8,348 38.8 1 Rotherham 9,757 38.1 2 1922 general election Bilston 10,392 45.8 2Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election. Manchester Gorton 15,058 53.6 1 Pontypool 11,198 40.6 1 Rotherham 16,449 49.0 2 Walsall 8,946 23.6 3 1923 general election Bilston 9,085 37.1 2 Cleveland 9,683 27.8 3 Pontypool 13,770 50.6 1 1924 general election Bilston 14,583 53.2 1Labour Party, Annual Report of the Labour Party Conference (1928), pp. 275–281. Note that this is a list of affiliations of Labour MPs as of September 1928, and it is possible that some MPs held different sponsorship as of the 1924 election. Birmingham King's Norton 10,497 43.3 1 Pontypool 15,378 52.6 1 1929 general election Bilston 18,679 50.8 1 Birmingham King's Norton 13,973 40.6 2 Eccles 20,489 49.8 1 Newport 18,653 39.5 1 Pontypool 17,805 51.5 1 1931 general election Bilston 16,847 44.9 2 Eccles 16,101 38.2 2 Newport 19,238 40.9 2 Pontypool 18,981 56.3 1 1935 general election Bilston 17,820 48.8 2 Motherwell 14,755 50.7 1 1940 by-election Swansea East unopposed N/A 1 1945 general election Bolton 44,595 24.0 1Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 232–248. Swansea East 19,127 75.8 1 1950 general election Rotherham 31,211 64.4 1 Swansea East 32,680 75.3 1 1951 general election Rotherham 31,124 65.6 1Labour Party, Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 184–203. Swansea East 32,790 73.6 1 1955 general election Rotherham 27,423 63.3 1Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275. Swansea East 28,198 72.4 1 1959 general election Rotherham 28,298 62.8 1Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201. Swansea East 29,884 67.5 1 1964 general election Neath 29,692 73.4 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180. 1966 general election Neath 31,183 79.9 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330. 1968 by-election Sheffield Brightside 14,179 55.2 1 1970 general election Neath 28,378 71.4 1Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312. Sheffield Brightside 23,941 72.2 1 Feb 1974 general election Halesowen and Stourbridge 22,465 33.8 2Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390. Neath 25,351 62.3 1 Sheffield Brightside 27,363 68.4 1 Oct 1974 general election Halesowen and Stourbridge 23,637 37.6 2Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411. Neath 25,028 61.4 1 1979 general election Kettering 31,579 45.0 1 Neath 27,071 64.5 1 1983 general election Corby 17,659 36.1 2 Neath 22,670 53.6 1 1987 general election Enfield North 14,743 28.5 2 Neath 27,612 63.4 1 Newport West 20,887 46.1 1

General Secretaries 1917: Arthur Pugh 1936: John Brown 1946: Lincoln Evans 1953: Harry Douglass 1967: Dai Davies 1975: Bill Sirs 1985: Roy Evans 1993: Keith Brookman 1999: Michael J. Leahy

Assistant General Secretaries 1935: John Brown 1936: Lincoln Evans 1945: Harry Douglass 1953: Dai Davies 1967: Jim Diamond 1973: Bill Sirs 1975: Roy Evans 1985: Keith Brookman 1993: Michael J. Leahy 1999: Eddie Lynch 2004: Roy Rickhuss

References

External links Catalogue of the ISTC archives, held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick