Iron and Steel Trades Confederation

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.[2] It was formed on 1 January 1917 as a merger of existing steel-workers' unions and it is now part of Community.

Iron and Steel Trades Confederation

Founded	1 January 1917
Date dissolved	2004
Merged into	Community
Members	110,000 (1978)[1]
Journal	ISTC Banner[2]
Affiliation	TUC, CSEU, Labour, STUC
Office location	Swinton House, Gray's Inn Road, London[2]
Country	United Kingdom
Website	www.istc-tu.org

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.[3] 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.[4]

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.[2] 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.[4]

From the 1980s, employment in the metalworking trades was in sharp decline, and membership of the ISTC dropped in line with this.[2] In 1984, the existing ISTC was legally absorbed by BISAKTA, which took on the ISTC name.[4]

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.[5]

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	John Baker	9,760	42.0	2[6]
	Manchester Gorton	John Hodge	13,047	67.4	1[6]
	Pontypool	Thomas Griffiths	8,348	38.8	1[6]
	Rotherham	James Walker	9,757	38.1	2[6]
1922 general election	Bilston	John Baker	10,392	45.8	2[7]
	Manchester Gorton	John Hodge	15,058	53.6	1[7]
	Pontypool	Thomas Griffiths	11,198	40.6	1[7]
	Rotherham	James Walker	16,449	49.0	2[7]
	Walsall	Robert Dennison	8,946	23.6	3[7]
1923 general election	Bilston	John Baker	9,085	37.1	2[8]
	Cleveland	Robert Dennison	9,683	27.8	3[8]
	Pontypool	Thomas Griffiths	13,770	50.6	1[8]
1924 general election	Bilston	John Baker	14,583	53.2	1[9]
	Birmingham King's Norton	Robert Dennison	10,497	43.3	1[9]
	Pontypool	Thomas Griffiths	15,378	52.6	1[9]
1929 general election	Bilston	John Baker	18,679	50.8	1[10]
	Birmingham King's Norton	Robert Dennison	13,973	40.6	2[10]
	Eccles	David Mort	20,489	49.8	1[10]
	Newport	James Walker	18,653	39.5	1[10]
	Pontypool	Thomas Griffiths	17,805	51.5	1[10]
1931 general election	Bilston	John Baker	16,847	44.9	2[11]
	Eccles	David Mort	16,101	38.2	2[11]
	Newport	James Walker	19,238	40.9	2[11]
	Pontypool	Thomas Griffiths	18,981	56.3	1[11]
1935 general election	Bilston	David Mort	17,820	48.8	2[12]
	Motherwell	James Walker	14,755	50.7	1[12]
1940 by-election	Swansea East	David Mort	unopposed	N/A	1
1945 general election	Bolton	Jack Jones	44,595	24.0	1[13]
	Swansea East	David Mort	19,127	75.8	1[13]
1950 general election	Rotherham	Jack Jones	31,211	64.4	1[14]
	Swansea East	David Mort	32,680	75.3	1[14]
1951 general election	Rotherham	Jack Jones	31,124	65.6	1[15]
	Swansea East	David Mort	32,790	73.6	1[15]
1955 general election	Rotherham	Jack Jones	27,423	63.3	1[16]
	Swansea East	David Mort	28,198	72.4	1[16]
1959 general election	Rotherham	Jack Jones	28,298	62.8	1[17]
	Swansea East	David Mort	29,884	67.5	1[17]
1964 general election	Neath	Donald Coleman	29,692	73.4	1[18]
1966 general election	Neath	Donald Coleman	31,183	79.9	1[19]
1968 by-election	Sheffield Brightside	Edward Griffiths	14,179	55.2	1[19]
1970 general election	Neath	Donald Coleman	28,378	71.4	1[20]
	Sheffield Brightside	Edward Griffiths	23,941	72.2	1[20]
Feb 1974 general election	Halesowen and Stourbridge	Dennis Turner	22,465	33.8	2[21]
	Neath	Donald Coleman	25,351	62.3	1[21]
	Sheffield Brightside	Edward Griffiths	27,363	68.4	1[21]
Oct 1974 general election	Halesowen and Stourbridge	Dennis Turner	23,637	37.6	2[22]
	Neath	Donald Coleman	25,028	61.4	1[22]
1979 general election	Kettering	William Homewood	31,579	45.0	1[21]
	Neath	Donald Coleman	27,071	64.5	1[21]
1983 general election	Corby	William Homewood	17,659	36.1	2[21]
	Neath	Donald Coleman	22,670	53.6	1
1987 general election	Enfield North	Martin Upham	14,743	28.5	2
	Neath	Donald Coleman	27,612	63.4	1
	Newport West	Paul Flynn	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

1. Yves Mény, The Politics of Steel, p. 323.
2. Eaton, Jack; Gill, Colin (1981). The Trade Union Directory. London: Pluto Press. pp. 138–145. ISBN 0861043502.
3. Men of Steel, Iron Steel Trades Confederation, p. 245.
4. 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".
5. The Carpet Weavers of Kidderminster. Arthur MarshMalthouse Press Oxford, p. 74.
6. Pugh, Arthur (1951). Men of Steel. London: Iron and Steel Trades Confederation. pp. 153–154, 283.
7. Labour 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.
8. Pugh, Arthur (1951). Men of Steel. London: Iron and Steel Trades Confederation. pp. 371, 380.
9. Labour 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.
10. Pugh, Arthur (1951). Men of Steel. Iron and Steel Trades Confederation. p. 443.
11. Annual Report of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931. Missing or empty |title= (help)
12. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Annual Report of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
13. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 232–248.
14. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
15. Labour Party, Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 184–203.
16. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 255–275.
17. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 179–201.
18. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 158–180.
19. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 308–330.
20. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 289–312.
21. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 371–390.
22. Labour Party, Report of the Seventy-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp. 391–411.

External links

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