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

[5] From the 1980s, employment in the metalworking trades was in sharp decline, and membership of the ISTC dropped in line with this.

[5] 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.

Responding to the contraction of the British manufacturing sector, the ISTC expanded into new areas in 2000.

[6] In 2004, the ISTC merged with the National Union of Knitwear, Footwear & Apparel Trades (KFAT) to form a new organisation called Community.