Mariaam Bhatti: Tales of a Domestic Worker
One of the things I enjoy about being a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group is the good humour we all have together. As many domestic workers work on weekends too, some only have a day off on Sundays, so we spend one Sunday each month planning for the future of our group but also socialising and laughing together. ‘Laughter, tea and biscuits’ is our group’s ritual at the end of each meeting.
Another thing we always enjoy is asking each other how we’re getting on in work and if there’s any gossip, such as our employers’ promotions, new babies or extra responsibilities in our ever-unpredictable field of work. Changes are always a factor in this line of work: some good, others not so welcome; some are announced in advance, others come unexpectedly, and with the potential to upset any plans made.
Amid one recent cheerful meeting, one of the women in our group came up to me and said: “Mariaam, do you know my employer has left Ireland and gone to another country?” I did not know how to comfort her or to tell her everything would be okay, as I was not sure myself if I believed that was true. I am still trying to deal with the same issue myself. The pain that someone exploited me, benefited from it, fought me tooth-and-nail in the labour court and lied to protect their own skin can never go away.
Despite all this, most of us in our group won our cases, even when we did not have much in the way of what’s considered as evidence in the courts. What we could give as evidence were the true revelations of our experiences that we delivered with dignity and honesty.
In many cases, years of waiting for court dates and notifications of outcomes was followed by sighs of relief at the amazing work the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) did ‘walking with us’ all the way, and the work we did ourselves to be our own witnesses and evidence to our treatment by our former employers. Our determination was just incredible. Some felt intimidated and others were even threatened, but our thirst to see justice done kept the fire in us burning.
After all that, it’s so disturbing to see some employers simply pack up and leave, even after judgement is passed against them. Mine packed up after she appealed the decision in my favour, and was long gone even as we waited for the new court date. Although the decision was upheld and I walked out of the labour court hopeful to see the end of it, I was deeply hurt to learn that she had left the country, just like that.
I was hurt not only because it destroyed any chances of being paid what I was owed for my hard labour scrubbing her walls, floors and doors on top of caring for her children, but also because it brought bitter memories of how I was treated. It stings me to know that she continues to walk free today, wherever she is.
I know other women I’ve spoken to have had the same experience and feel the same as me: it seems Ireland let our employers go because, well, wasn’t it only domestic workers they exploited?
Mariaam Bhatti is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group and Forced Labour Action Group of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.
