Charles "Digger" Murphy's first job as a miner was on the pithead – at the entrance of a coal mine – when he was aged 15.
Queensland law dictated that he should not have been working before his 18th birthday.
"But, people didn't take much notice of those things back then," he says. "Mining was very different to what it is now."
Mining has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 1930s , it was mainly done by hand – with a pick and shovel.
Mr Murphy, eventually left the pithead to work deeper underground, digging for coal.
Now at the age of 96, he is Australia's oldest surviving coal mine union official.
As a 17-year-old, he headed the Queensland branch of the Colliery Employees' Union, the predecessor of the Miners' Federation, which this week celebrates its 100th anniversary.The milestone is being marked with a display of banners, posters and other memorabilia at the Sydney Trades Hall Atrium, which Mr Murphy has visited.
Among achievements the union is celebrating its win in 1921 of the world's first 35-hour week and first industrial diseases compensation scheme, after a strike that lasted 18 months.
In 1941, The Miners' Federation won a pension and 60-year retirement age.
Long service leave was won in 1949 after a national coal strike.
During the 1950s, the union was successful in its fight to rid the industry of the deadly black lung dust disease.
"We would not have what we have today if it wasn't for unions. Over the years because of the tenacity of the miners union and their ability to lead the workers through strikes on many occasions," Mr Murphy said.
"It is very sad some of the hard-fought gains are now being lost."
But the past 100 years have also been marked by tragedies including loss of life in mine explosions.
In February, 1945 Mr Murphy watched a "great column of smoke belch out from the tunnel" after a mine blast in which four people died.
As the son and grandson of miners, Mr Murphy was one of five children and one of the bread winners of the family.
"What I was earning was a big thing as far as the family was concerned," he said.
His grandfather Charles Kilpatrick led the Queensland Miners Union to the Miners Federation Foundation in 1915
"I think he was one of the greatest people in the world. He had a big influence on me," Mr Murphy said.
"Old Charlie was a bit of a character and he became a Queensland upper house MP."
Mr Murphy said his grandfather was the first president of the miners union in Queensland after migrating to Australia from Scotland. He died in his late 50s after having a heart attack.
His last words to his grandson were "well Charles, it's up to you now boy".
Mr Murphy followed in his grandfather's footsteps by sitting on an inquiry into a major mine disaster and was a full-time union officer until 1957. He retired in 1979 at the age of 60.
"I never regretted one moment of it," he said.
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Queensland law dictated that he should not have been working before his 18th birthday.
"But, people didn't take much notice of those things back then," he says. "Mining was very different to what it is now."
Mining has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 1930s , it was mainly done by hand – with a pick and shovel.
Mr Murphy, eventually left the pithead to work deeper underground, digging for coal.
Now at the age of 96, he is Australia's oldest surviving coal mine union official.
As a 17-year-old, he headed the Queensland branch of the Colliery Employees' Union, the predecessor of the Miners' Federation, which this week celebrates its 100th anniversary.The milestone is being marked with a display of banners, posters and other memorabilia at the Sydney Trades Hall Atrium, which Mr Murphy has visited.
Among achievements the union is celebrating its win in 1921 of the world's first 35-hour week and first industrial diseases compensation scheme, after a strike that lasted 18 months.
In 1941, The Miners' Federation won a pension and 60-year retirement age.
Long service leave was won in 1949 after a national coal strike.
During the 1950s, the union was successful in its fight to rid the industry of the deadly black lung dust disease.
"We would not have what we have today if it wasn't for unions. Over the years because of the tenacity of the miners union and their ability to lead the workers through strikes on many occasions," Mr Murphy said.
"It is very sad some of the hard-fought gains are now being lost."
But the past 100 years have also been marked by tragedies including loss of life in mine explosions.
In February, 1945 Mr Murphy watched a "great column of smoke belch out from the tunnel" after a mine blast in which four people died.
As the son and grandson of miners, Mr Murphy was one of five children and one of the bread winners of the family.
"What I was earning was a big thing as far as the family was concerned," he said.
His grandfather Charles Kilpatrick led the Queensland Miners Union to the Miners Federation Foundation in 1915
"I think he was one of the greatest people in the world. He had a big influence on me," Mr Murphy said.
"Old Charlie was a bit of a character and he became a Queensland upper house MP."
Mr Murphy said his grandfather was the first president of the miners union in Queensland after migrating to Australia from Scotland. He died in his late 50s after having a heart attack.
His last words to his grandson were "well Charles, it's up to you now boy".
Mr Murphy followed in his grandfather's footsteps by sitting on an inquiry into a major mine disaster and was a full-time union officer until 1957. He retired in 1979 at the age of 60.
"I never regretted one moment of it," he said.
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