Murphy attended the Bishop Bright Grammar School in Royal Leamington Spa before becoming a photographer for the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1972.
He joined the Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs (ASTMS), and from 1979 worked full-time for the union.
[1] In 1990, Murphy returned to trade unionism as Director of Industrial Relations for the Royal College of Midwives, then in 1995 he was appointed as General Secretary of the NatWest Staff Association (NWSA).
[2] Murphy took the NWSA into a merger, in 1999, which formed UNIFI, of which he served as joint general secretary.
[1] In this role, he promoted the idea of unions offering a wide range of services to both members and non-members.