As the months went by, I found myself occupied with other important things such that I did not realise how fast the time had passed since my visit to the Labour Court. One of the things I did with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) as part of our work with the Domestic Workers Action Group (DWAG) was raising awareness of issues surrounding domestic work, as well as sending a clear message on what needed – and still needs – to be done by the public and the State respectively to protect vulnerable workers.
As the months went by, I found myself occupied with other important things such that I did not realise how fast the time had passed since my visit to the Labour Court. One of the things I did with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) as part of our work with the Domestic Workers Action Group (DWAG) was raising awareness of issues surrounding domestic work, as well as sending a clear message on what needed – and still needs – to be done by the public and the State respectively to protect vulnerable workers.
One of the best ways of raising awareness is through the media. My first experience of being interviewed live on radio was almost two years ago, and it’s a day I remember vividly and fondly. A colleague in DWAG (who is also now a close friend) and I were sitting in the waiting area in RTÉ, waiting for our turn to go on the air, and we were very nervous. The closest we had ever been to radio in our lives was when we listened to it! Now we were not only visiting the place where broadcasting happened, we would also speak on the air about the issues surrounding our work. It was a big leap!
It’s also very rare to hear people like us over the airwaves, unless we are portrayed as victims or the media wants to paint a certain picture about us or our experiences. We were not going to be victims but to talk as activists to send a clear message to the Government that some laws need to change or be enforced to ensure equality and fair treatment of all workers, including those working in isolation where the eyes of the public or relevant agencies don’t reach.
As we were rehearsing what we would say in case the presenter was difficult on us, we got even more anxious when two other people joined us in the waiting area. To ease our nerves we struck a conversation with them and asked what they were there for. They turned out to be famous Irish musicians who were in to talk about their music and their involvement in school programmes where they teach pupils how to play various music instruments, particularly pipes.
They in turn asked what we were there to talk about, and it was only then that we realised how much we knew our subject very well. We explained the basics, and how we also hoped to promote our play Acting Out for Hope and Change, a powerful drama about our experiences that was being performed in a Dublin theatre that week.
Our chat was interrupted by a well-dressed and smiling woman who appeared in the corridor and asked for the two musicians, and we knew then that when their 15 minutes were up it was our turn. I don’t remember anything else till we were seated in the studio with the presenter at a round table, and I was hearing him give the introduction to our segment: ‘Take a look at any playground; you’ll see a Filipina or an African child minder with Irish kids. Many of these women work in isolation, behind closed doors, sometimes with little or no access to information on their rights as workers. With me in the studio today are two women who are going to tell us about their experiences as domestic workers…’ I thought to myself: this is our chance to get a message to others still trapped in domestic slavery…
To be continued...
Mariaam Bhatti is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group and Forced Labour Action Group of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.
