Thomas Patrick Murray was the eldest of the three sons of Patrick Murray, a boiler-maker and trade unionist, and his wife, Florence Mabel Essex. After completing his schooling at Malvern Primary School and the Witwatersrand Technical College in Johannesburg, Murray was apprenticed to the engineering firm of Wright, Boag and Company Limited where he attained journeyman status.
In 1938 he joined the South African Boilermakers', Iron and Steel Workers', Shipbuilders' and Welders' Society, known as the Boilermakers' Society. He served the union in many capacities and was elected to its executive committee in 1946. He became President in 1950, Assistant General Secretary in 1951 and General Secretary in 1954, a post he retained until his death. The Boilermakers' Society recognized his many years of service when he was awarded the Order of Merit in 1967.
Murray's negotiating skills enabled him to help improve the wages and working conditions for mining and engineering employees, representing both the Boiler-makers' Society and the Mining Unions' Joint Committee of which he was also secretary. In the mining and engineering industries he held several appointments: Secretary of the Federation of Mining Unions, secretary of the Confederation of Metal and Building Unions, member of the Prevention of Accidents Committee of the Transvaal and Orange Free State Chamber of Mines, member of the Mine Employees' Pension and Provident funds, member and later Chairperson of the National Industrial Council for the Iron, Steel, Engineering and Metallurgical Industries, the largest industrial council in the country, and member of the Government Regional Council for the same industrial council.
He also served on the industrial councils for the explosives industry and the pulp and paper industry, and was a member of the South African Trade Union Building Society and Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Trade Union Insurance Society. He was also a member of both the National Apprenticeship Committee for the Engineering Industry and the Pneumoconiosis Board, and the longest-serving member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council to which he had been appointed at its inception.
Murray was equally active in the broader trade union movement. The Boilermakers' Society had broken away from the old South African Trades and Labour Council in the late 1940s and was affiliated to the South African Federation of Trade Unions. Under Murray's leadership the Boilermakers' Society, disenchanted with the narrow approach of the South African Federation of Trade Unions, became a member of the Unity Committee in 1951, with Murray as one of its joint secretaries.
This paved the way for the formation of the Trade Union Council of South Africa (TUCSA). Together with T.C. Rutherford* and D. Hartwell, he unsuccessfully petitioned to address parliament on the Industrial Conciliation Bill in 1954. Murray served TUCSA faithfully, being elected President unopposed six times and serving as Senior Vice-President for six of the years when he was ineligible for the presidency. He also served TUCSA as a trustee and as a member of the national executive committee for 21 years. In recognition of his long service he was to have become the first Honorary Life President of TUCSA in 1975, but died before the honour could be conferred. The award was made posthumously.
Murray fully supported TUCSA's efforts to improve South Africa's image by bringing prominent overseas trade unionists to the country. Murray was a leading force in persuading TUCSA to open its doors to African membership. He felt strongly that the trade union movement should cater for the needs of workers of all races. He emphasized that African unions should be granted recognition and be allowed to become affiliated to a responsible co-ordinating body such as TUCSA which could help the African workers' advancement.
In international affairs Murray also played an important part. He was adviser of the South African Workers' delegation to the annual International Labour Organisation Conference in Geneva on two occasions. He was a delegate to the biennial conferences of the International Metalworkers' Federation (IMF) for 19 years and was Chairperson and Secretary of the South African Council of the IMF. In 1966 he visited the United States of America on a leader exchange grant, and was elected a trustee of the South Africa Foundation in 1973.
He became one of the great names in the South African labour movement. He had remarkable leadership qualities, a strong character, a forceful personality, a keen sense of humour, liberal values, was a good public speaker and had an under-standing of the fears and aspirations of the workers.
Many tributes were paid to him when he died of cancer at an early age. In 1941 he married Olga Paulina Hill and two sons were born of the marriage.