https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Jayaben_DesaiJayaben Desai - Revision history2026-08-01T00:43:52ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Jayaben_Desai&diff=114551&oldid=prev>Julia bee1 at 09:14, 11 May 20212021-05-11T09:14:52Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Jayaben Desai<br />
| image =<br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|04|02|df=y}}<br />
| birth_place = Gujarat, India<br />
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|12|23|1933|04|02|df=y}} <br />
| death_place = <br />
| nationality = British<br />
| other_names = <br />
| known_for = trade unionism<br />
| occupation = <br />
}}'''Jayaben Desai''' (2 April 1933 – 23 December 2010) was a prominent leader of the strikers in the [[Grunwick dispute]] in [[London]] in 1976.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|title=Jayaben Desai obituary|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/28/jayaben-desai-obituary|accessdate=3 January 2011|location=London| first=Jack|last=Dromey|date=28 December 2010}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Biography==<br />
Born in [[Dharmaj]], [[Gujarat]], India, Desai moved to [[Tanzania]], East Africa, in 1956. At the age of twenty two, she married Suryakant, a factory owner. The couple were from middle class mercantile backgrounds. They later moved to Britain before the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968]] made it harder for British passport holders from former British colonies to enter the country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Lewis, Helen, 1983-|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1129661369|title=Difficult women : a history of feminism in 11 fights|date=27 February 2020|isbn=978-1-78733-128-0|location=London|oclc=1129661369}}</ref><br />
<br />
== Grunwick Dispute ==<br />
In Britain, she had to take up low-paid work, first as a sewing machinist, then processing film in the Grunwick factory.<ref name="guardian" /> She resigned after being ordered to work overtime, and instigated a strike among the mainly Asian and female workforce. The strikers protested about working conditions, pay inequality and institutionalised racism within the company.<ref>http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/asian/politics/grunwick.htm Jeyaben Desai part in the Grunwick Dispute</ref> Women were even asked why they needed to go to the toilet, and Desai counselled her colleagues not to be intimidated by this.<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
Desai led the strikers in their epic two-year picket from 1976 to 1978. The strike was backed by the Apex union and the local postal union initially refused to deliver the Grunwick photography laboratory post, until challenged with the support of the Tory party, at that time the government Opposition. <br />
<br />
Desai was an inspiring speaker and well-known speaker, speaking out against racist and sexist comments aimed at her and at the other striking workers, and criticising what she felt was a lack of support from the [[Trades Union Congress]] for her cause.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irr.org.uk/faces/desai.html|title=Jayaben Desai Biography at The Institute of Race Relations|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904100203/http://www.irr.org.uk/faces/desai.html|archivedate=2007-09-04}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> <br />
<br />
The prime minister [[James Callaghan|Jim Callaghan]] appointed a judge, [[Leslie Scarman, Baron Scarman|Lord Justice Scarman]] to settle the dispute. Mrs Desai testified at length. Judge Scarman recommended that the union should be recognised and the sacked workers reinstated. The factory owner ignored the report and the unions backed off, leaving the Grunwick strike committee to announce the strike was over on 14 July 1978.<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
== After the strike ==<br />
Desai returned to the sewing industry and later became a teacher at [[Harrow College]]. She passed her driving test at the age of 60 and encouraged other women to do so to increase their freedom.<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
Mrs Desai (as she was always referred to) recorded her thoughts for the [[Brent Museum]] and archives. In an interview by Hannah Phung of Brent Museum she said: "It was amazing, let me tell you, it was amazing.[…] tears were in my eyes to see these people […] they were hurting themselves and the police were charging them with horses and everything and still they were standing strong."<br />
<br />
Jayaben Desai died on 23 December 2010. Her family scattered her ashes near the sources of the [[Indus River|Indus]] and [[Ganges]] rivers and in [[Rotherhithe]] on the [[River Thames|Thames]].<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
== Commemoration ==<br />
On 14 December 2016 she was named as one of seven women chosen by [[BBC Radio Four]]'s ''[[Woman's Hour]]'' for their 2016 Power List, which was topped by [[Margaret Thatcher]] and also included [[Helen Brook]], [[Barbara Castle]], [[Germaine Greer]], [[Bridget Jones]] and [[Beyoncé]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38303886 "Margaret Thatcher tops Woman's Hour Power List"], BBC News, 14 December 2016.</ref> A portrait of Desai by [[David Mansell]] was purchased by the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=NPG x200056; Jayaben Desai - Portrait - National Portrait Gallery |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw283501 |website=National Portrait Gallery, London |access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Sources and further reading==<br />
* [[Val Wilmer|Wilmer, Val]], "The first preference is pride" (interview with Jayaben Desai), ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'', 15–21 September 1978, pp.&nbsp;14–15.<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/28/jayaben-desai-obituary |title=Jayaben Desai obituary &#124; Politics &#124; The Guardian |first= Jack|last=Dromey |authorlink= Jack Dromey|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=28 December 2010|publisher=[[Guardian Media Group|GMG]] |location=[[London, England|London]] |issn=0261-3077 |oclc=60623878 |accessdate=8 August 2012}}<br />
*{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jayaben-desai-trade-unionist-who-shot-to-national-prominence-during-the-bitter-grunwick-dispute-of-197677-2220589.html |title=Jayaben Desai: Trade unionist who shot to national prominence during the bitter Grunwick dispute of 1976-77 - Obituaries - News - The Independent |first= Terry|last=Pattinson|authorlink=Terry Pattinson|work=[[The Independent]] |date=21 February 2011 |publisher=[[Independent News & Media|INM]] |location=[[London, UK|London]] |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |accessdate=8 August 2012}}<br />
*{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09yddxk|title=Great Lives:Ayesha Hazarika on Jayaben Desai|work=BBC Radio 4 |accessdate=1 August 2018}}<br />
* {{NPG name| id=160854}}<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Jayaben}}<br />
[[Category:1933 births]]<br />
[[Category:2010 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:British trade unionists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]<br />
[[Category:People from Gujarat]]<br />
[[Category:Women trade unionists]]<br />
[[Category:British people of Gujarati descent]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Tanzania]]<br />
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]</div>>Julia bee1