Iron and Steel Trades Confederation
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| Founded | 1 January 1917 |
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| Date dissolved | 2004 |
| Merged into | Community |
| Members | 110,000 (1978) |
| Affiliation | TUC, CSEU |
| Office location | Swinton House, Gray's Inn Road, London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was a British trade union for metal-workers and allied groups. It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now part of Community.
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-third majorities in favor in all participant unions), as well as a desire to push craft unions into general trade unions to cover entire industries. 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.
Trade unions that have amalgamated with or transferred engagements to the ISTC or BISAKTA and year it occurred:
The resultant union was named the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation. Both the Amalgamated Association of Steel and Iron Workers of Great Britain and the Tin and Sheet Millmens' Association balloted their members unsuccessfully in 1916 but were later successful. 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.
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.
In 2004, the ISTC merged with the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades (KFAT) to form a new organisation called Community.
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