Community (trade union)
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| Full name | Community |
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| Founded | 2004 |
| Members | 27,266 (2014) |
| Affiliation | TUC, STUC, CSEU, Labour |
| Key people | Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary |
| Office location | 465c Caledonian Road, London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Website | www |
Community is a UK trade union representing workers in the iron and steel, domestic appliance manufacturing, clothing, textiles, footwear, road transport, betting and gaming and call centre sectors as well as workers in voluntary organisations, workshops for visually impaired and disabled people, community-care providers and housing associations. Although the former trade unions which amalgamated to form Community were all craft unions or industrial unions Community is now a general union (and the smallest of the 'General Unions' in the TUC). Community has merged or transferred engagements with a number of smaller unions, some of which have become sections within Community. These include the National League of the Blind and Disabled (NLBD), the National Union of Domestic Appliance and General Operatives (NUDAGO), the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades (KFAT), the British Union of Social Work Employees (BUSWE) and most recently the Prison Service Union (representing staff in the UK's privatised gaols).
Community actively participates in the Trades Union Congress and Community's then General Secretary Michael Leahy served as TUC President in 2010/2011. The union supports the New Unionism project of the TUC, particularly the TUC organising academy.
When Community was formed from the merger of KFAT and the ISTC in 2004 it was arranged for the first new member of the newly constituted union to be the then UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (and future Prime Minister), Gordon Brown.
Community was formed from a merger of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) and the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades (KFAT), effective from 1 July 2004. From this point the new trade union began advocating ‘Community Unionism’ which dictates that the union directs effort not only towards improving conditions in the workplace but also in the general community in which members live.
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