John F. Murphy was born in 1948 in Massachusetts of Irish immigrant parents. He attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools.
On the college level, John Murphy continued his education at Boston State College from 1967 — 1969 and received a degree in Paralegal Studies from Bentley College in 1979.
John Murphy became a Teamster in 1969 when he was employed at a Boston beer distributorship. John Murphy served as shop steward there before being appointed an assistant business representative for Teamsters Local 122 in 1980 and thereafter held various positions on its Executive Board.
In 1985, Murphy was elected to the principal officer’s position (Secretary-Treasurer) of Teamsters Local 122. He has been re-elected every term since then to that position. In 1995, John Murphy was elected Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL/CIO and still holds that position. In 1998, he was elected Vice President of the Eastern Region of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as part of James P. Hoffa’s slate. During General President Hoffa’ s first term, Murphy served as Director of Organizing. He is now Special Assistant to the General President for Special Projects as well as Vice President. The Special Projects position started his involvement in the merger process between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees. In March, 2005, he was appointed Director of the Teamsters Rail Conference. Mr. Murphy was re-elected for the fifth time, this time as Vice President At-Large of the IBT in November 2016.
Virginia Barnes was elected President in 2016. Prior to becoming President she served as Recording Secretary of Teamsters Local 122 for four consecutive terms and has sat as a member of the Contract Negotiating Committee for the Boston Housing Authority since 1992.
A union member for more than 30 years Ms. Barnes is actively involved in the Teamsters Union. She currently serves as the Teamsters National Black Caucus Recording Secretary/Coordinator; she is an original member of the International Teamsters Women’s Conference Planning Committee; served as a Delegate to the Change to Win Conventions in 2005 and 2007. In her position as Benefits Manager at the Boston Housing Authority she has earned the reputation of a compassionate leader and mentor to members of Local 122.
John Shea has been a Local 122 member since 1988. He’s currently serving his forth term as Vice-President for the Local and previously held the office of Trustee. John is a Union activist and, as such, has traveled across the USA in support of Labor Union battles.
Chris has been a member of Local 122 since 2000. He also serves as the Principal Shop Steward at Martignetti Companies in Norwood. This is Chris' second term elected as Trustee.
Payton became a Teamster in 2003 and has been a member of Local 122 since 2006. Before working full-time for the Local, he served as a bargaining committee representative and a shop steward at A. A. Busch & Co., where he worked as a delivery driver. Payton was first elected as a Trustee in 2015 and is now in his third term on the Executive Board. In 2019, Secretary-Treasurer Murphy appointed him to serve as a full-time Business Representative. Payton is a graduate of the Teamster Leadership Academy and the Labor Guild School of Labor Management.
Tim has been a member of Local 122 since 1998. He has served as a bargaining committee representative since 2003 and the Local Union’s principal shop steward at Charles Gilman & Sons since 2012. Tim was appointed to the Executive Board in December 2017.
