James Knapp (29 September 1940 - 13 August 2001) was a prominent British trade unionist and, successively, General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). He served on the General Council of the Trade 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.[1] 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; he was survived by his wife Eva.[1] He was the last person in Britain, to have a railway funeral in honour of the work he had done and was carried from London to Kilmarnock for burial in August 2001.[2]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sidney Weighell |
General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen 1983-1990 |
Succeeded by Position abolished |
| Preceded by New position |
General Secretary of the RMT 1990-2001 |
Succeeded by Bob Crow |
| Preceded by Alan Tuffin |
President of the Trades Union Congress 1994 |
Succeeded by Leif Mills |