Community is a British trade union which formed in 2004. The union represents workers in a diverse range of sectors, including iron and steel, justice and custodial, domestic appliance manufacturing, textiles and footwear, road transport, betting, the third sector, education and early years as well as the self-employed. 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 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), the Prison Service Union (representing staff in the UK's privatised prisons and wider justice sector), the UFS, Blue Chip Staff Association (BCSA) and the Independent Democratic Union (IDU). Community actively participates in the Trades Union Congress and Community's then General Secretary Michael Leahy served as TUC President in 2010/2011. 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. 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), 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. Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) The Iron and Steel Trades Confederation (ISTC) was constituted on 1 January 1917 from a merger of the British Steel Smelters, Mill, Iron and Tinplate Workers Union, The Associated Iron and Steel Workers of Great Britain and the National Steel Workers’ Association Engineering and Labour League. 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