COMMUNITY

Community is a British trade union representing workers in the clothing, textiles, footwear, steel and betting industries as well as workers with disabilities. Community has merged or transferred engagements of a number of smaller unions, some of which have retained their structure as sectors within Community. These include the National League of the Blind and Disabled (NLBD), the National Union of Domestic Appliances Operatives (NUDAGO) and the British Union of Social Work Employees (BUSWE).

Community supports the New Unionism project of the TUC, particularly the TUC organising academy. The first member to join the newly constituted union in 2004 was future British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown

History

Community was formed from a merger of the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) and the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades(KFAT). Occurring on July 1 2004, Community began advocating ‘Community Unionism’ which dictates that the union directs effort to improving conditions in the workplace as well as in the general community in which members live.

Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC)

The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was constituted on the 1st of January 1917 from a merger of the British Steel Smelters, Mill, Iron and Tinplate Workers, The Associated Iron and Steel Workers of Great Britain and the National Steel Workers’ Association Engineering and Labour League[2]. The ISTC was later joined by the Amalgamated Association of Steel & Iron Workers of Great Britain in 1920 and the Tin and Sheet Millmens Association in 1921. The Wire Workers Union joined in 1922, but withdrew in 1924. The Wire Workers Union rejoined in 1991. In 1985 the National Union of Blast-furnace-men joined the ISTC. However the decline of British manufacturing jobs in these industries led the union to diversify its membership merging with the National League of the Blind and Disabled (NLBD) in 1999 and the Power Loom Carpet Weavers and Textile Workers Union (PLCWTWU) in 2000.

National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades (KFAT)

The National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades(KFAT) was formed in 1991 by the merger of the National Union of Hosiery and Knitwear Workers (NUHKW) with National Union of Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades (NUFLAT). NUFLAT had been formed in 1873 following a meeting of various regional associations. The history of the NUHKW can be traced back to 1776 and the formation of the Stocking Makers Association in Nottingham.

National League of the Blind and the Disabled (NLBD)

The NLBD is the oldest organisation of disabled people in the world. It was formed as a trade union in 1899. The NLBD campaigned for disabled people from formation and in 1920 lobbied parliament successfully to introduce the world's first piece of blind person specific legislation, the 1920 blind person act.This tradition of advocacy coontributed to the creation of the Disability Rights Commission and the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act.

British Union of Social Work Employees (BUSWE)

In 2008 the membership of BUSWE voted in favour of a transfer of engagements to Community. Buswe was formed in 1976 from a meeting of the British Association of Social Workers. In 1985 it was large enough to support a full-time General Secretary Stan Crawshaw. After a period of instability in the early 1990’s BUSWE was the only union in the UK to record growth in the period 1996-7 without merging with another union.