This is the story of the ISTC (the Iron and Steel Trades Confederation), spanning five shifts in the industry's ownership, huge advances in the working conditions of those employed in steel, and the only national steel strike Britain ever experienced. It chronicles the course of industrial progress and the social impact of huge plant closures, and profiles those who led the ISTC from the post-war world to the eve of the millennium. The ISTC has always been Britain's principal steel and metals union. This volume covers its history from 1951 when Britain's steelworkers worked an extended working week to boost the country's exports, to the present day when a smaller but proud union has rebuilt itself as a professional representative organization. Martin Upham is the author of "Trade Unions of the World" and co-author of "The Cassell Dictionary of Modern Britain".