Jayaben Desai

North London

1968–2010

Jayaben Desai was born in Gujarat, India in 1933. She later moved to Tanzania, joining her husband, Suryakant Desai, who managed a factory in Dar-es-Salaam. Owing to political and economic change following the independence of East African countries from British colonization, South Asians like the Desai family left their settled homes in Africa. East African Asians migrated all over the world, including to the United Kingdom. These journeys were part of multiple migrations undertaken across several generations. Desai first returned to India in 1964, and later joined her husband in London in October 1968, before the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1968 prevented her from coming to the UK.

During this period, racial discrimination was prolific in the United Kingdom, particularly in housing and employment. This was in stark contrast to conditions in East Africa, where South Asians led a comfortable life. They occupied the middle stratum of a socio-racial hierarchy where white Europeans were at the top, Asians in the middle and Africans at the bottom.

In 1974 Desai started work at the Grunwick Film Processing Laboratory in Willesden (north London). Last-minute demands for compulsory overtime, summary dismissals and degrading work conditions were commonplace at the factory. On 20 August 1976 Desai, with her son Sunil Desai, walked out in protest at poor treatment and demeaning work conditions, following a demand for overtime that evening. This was the beginning of the Grunwick dispute (1976–8), in which Desai was central. Desai was no stranger to demonstration: as a student growing up in India, she protested against British rule in India and was part of the Indian independence movement.

Desai garnered widespread and diverse support for the Grunwick industrial action. She travelled around the United Kingdom rallying support for the cause. People of all backgrounds came together, supporting the issues raised by the strike. In November 1977 Desai and other workers mounted a hunger strike outside the Trades Union Congress headquarters. Despite this determination the strike was called off in July 1978. Desai’s activism during the dispute marks an important moment because it changed the way female workers’ rights were recognized, in conjunction with non-white workers. Desai was awarded the GMB union gold badge in June 2007, in acknowledgement of her contribution. She died in December 2010.