James Campbell (17 April 1895 – 6 November 1957) was a
Scottish trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
leader.
Born in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, Campbell worked as a ticket collector for the
Glasgow and South Western Railway
The Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR) was a railway company in Scotland. It served a triangular area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was formed on 28 October 1850 by the merger of two earlier railway ...
, and joined the
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. The largest railway workers' union in the country, it was influential in the national trade union movement.
History
The NUR was an industrial union ...
(NUR) in 1911.
["Obituary", ''Report of the 1958 Trades Union Congress'', p.311] During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he served with the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
.
["Obituary: Mr J. Campbell", '']Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 7 November 1957
On his return, Campbell rejoined the railways, and was elected as branch secretary in the NUR.
He held a succession of increasingly senior positions in the union, eventually becoming a full-time organiser, then the chief organiser for Ireland, and assistant general secretary.
In 1953, Campbell was elected as general secretary of the NUR, and he was also elected onto the
General Council of the Trades Union Congress The General Council of the Trades Union Congress is an elected body which is responsible for carrying out the policies agreed at the annual British Trade Union Congresses (TUC).
Organisation
The council has 56 members, all of whom must be proposed ...
. While in office, he visited the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
,
with
Tom Hollywood and four other union representatives. Just outside
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the car in which he and Hollywood were travelling was hit by a bus, and both were killed.
["Second death in car crash", '']Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 8 November 1957 Campbell was 62.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Jim
1895 births
1957 deaths
General Secretaries of the National Union of Railwaymen
Members of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress
Trade unionists from Glasgow
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Engineers soldiers
Road incident deaths in the Soviet Union