Experiences are lessons for me
All I could think about all week was the cold, unfriendly expression on the face of my former employer and the intimidation she attempted just before we left the Labour Court. I could not believe she still had the guts and the nerve to do what she did in a place like that. I worried about the impact her false allegations would have on my case, although I was confident that the truth never changes – only a lie does.
For the first time I also realised why some domestic workers would not pursue their employers. Courts of law only accept proof in the form of written evidence, recorded tapes or witnesses, which is so hard for many of these women to collect because of the nature of work they do, and the fear they may have of their employers.
However, a week later I felt like a brand new person. Each experience, positive or negative, was a lesson for me and it was making me stronger. I found myself able to comfort others in our group who had their first Labour Court experience and were upset by the lies their employers had said there. That upset the women so much because it made their invisible work even less substantial, when their employers pretended they never existed in their world. They had done so much for those families and sacrificed so much for their employers’ happiness while their own families – their own children – had nobody to look after them.
When an opportunity rose in our group for our members to raise awareness about the issues facing domestic workers today in Ireland, I felt I owed it to myself and to other domestic workers to take part. Being involved gave me the opportunity to fight back in a positive way, and to join other workers experiencing the same problems, towards addressing these issues collectively as a team towards one goal – getting justice.
It also gave me an opportunity to ask myself some questions: Why had I been that naïve? Why had I not asked questions when things didn’t seem right? Why did I not stand up for myself? My employer was just a woman like myself, not even bigger than me. Just a harsh voice and a permanent unfriendly facial expression. So what was it that made me so afraid of her during the time I was in her house? I realised it was just the power she had over me. I depended on her for food, shelter and work.
I would get a little hard on myself, and upset with myself, over why I didn’t do things differently, but I always consoled myself that some employers are good and their domestic workers are happy. I and others like me were just unlucky to be employed by bad people.
From that experience I did not have high expectations of the outcome of my case, but I vowed that I would pursue it till the end, regardless of the barriers or intimidation I faced. I had no reason to hesitate or think otherwise about it: I was owed money for my hard labour and I was not respected as a worker during that time. I was not asking her for a donation but for my rightful wages that are worth every drop of sweat that fell onto her floor while she lived like a queen.
It was such a long wait before the next visit to court, but it didn’t bother me as my activism work was taking off and I had little time in my hands to think about her again…
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.
