- Jimmy Knapp
James Knapp (29 September 1940 -
13 August 2001 ) was a prominent British trade unionist and, successively, General Secretary of theNational Union of Railwaymen and theNational Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers . He served on the General Council of theTrade Union Congress from 1983 and was President of Congress in 1994.Knapp was born into a railway family in
Hurlford ,Ayrshire in 1940, and commenced work on the railways at the age of 15. By the age of 18 he had become branch collector for the National Union of Railwaymen; and by 21 he was NUR branch secretary. He rose through the union ranks becoming a full-time official at the age of 31. He came to London in 1972 as NUR HQ organiser and in 1983, at the age of 43, he was elected general secretary of the union.He died of cancer, in Bromley,
Greater London , aged 60.ources
* [http://www.jimmyknapp.org/jimmy.htm Biography page at the Jimmy Knapp Cancer Fund]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/1114371.stm BBC obituary]External links
* [http://www.jimmyknapp.org/index.htm The Jimmy Knapp Cancer Fund]
* [http://www.findmypast.com Deaths England and Wales 1984-2006]
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