Thomas Murphy, United Federation of Teachers
Tom Murphy began his career in 1964 as a social studies teacher on Staten Island, driven by a passion for social good that would define his professional life. After being encouraged by colleague John Soldini to volunteer for the union, Murphy discovered his calling in labor activism.
In 1990, Murphy was appointed as the union’s political legislative director, a position he held for 16 years. During his tenure, he expanded the union’s advocacy beyond traditional education and labor issues to embrace human rights causes, creating a more inclusive vision for the organization’s mission.
Upon retirement in 2006, Murphy transformed the UFT’s Retired Teachers Chapter into what UFT President Michael Mulgrew calls “the daytime army.” Under his leadership, the chapter grew to over 80,000 members who advance social justice initiatives when in-service colleagues are in classrooms.
Murphy pioneered a nationwide network of retiree sections, establishing offices in Florida and organizing volunteers for crucial labor campaigns across the country. His philosophy that “if you’re doing it alone, you’re doing it wrong” fostered unprecedented collaboration among retirees.
For his decades of service building institutional memory and advancing labor’s social justice mission, Murphy was recognized with the prestigious Charles Cogen Award, the UFT’s highest honor.