Mariaam Bhatti: Tales of a Domestic Worker
Getting back to the conference I attended in Lithuania recently, on our last day in Vilnius – also the most important day of the conference – I sat among the crowd watching intently as a drama unfolded on stage, acted out by drama students from Vilnius University, just across the river from our location.
The reason why I remember this play so vividly is because of how well presented and put together it was. Most importantly, it spread a message of empowerment to exploited workers and to spotlight the fact that there are always vultures out there ready to prey on the weak for their own gain. The young people’s performance was on everyone’s lips during the post-conference dinner meal. So it certainly was one of the most effective and interesting ways to put that message across.
The first part of the drama followed a young migrant man who was looking for construction work. He had that 1950s ‘cool’ luck: T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, hair gelled into spikes, a cigarette tucked behind his ear. He was being interviewed by the owner of the construction business, a strikingly beautiful and successful-looking young woman. She had an air of importance and high learning, in expensive formal clothes that sat perfectly on her body, her hair tied in a neat bun and lips coloured bright red. She held a file under her arm, and she sat with a strong posture, backbone straight.
The interview began: it went quickly, and the woman asked questions that sounded to me like she was searching for the weakest sides of the interviewee. A job offer immediately followed, though no paperwork was done in terms of an employment contract or pay offer. The employer character did not seem to be open to negotiation or questions, indeed she seemed in a haste to seal the deal and leave the room. Yet despite his rough looks and poor English, the young man was able to say: “You didn’t give me anything written that supports what you just said.”
The employer seemed shocked and of course not pleased. She stood tall and gave the young man an intimidating look. “Excuse me?!” she demanded. The young man repeated himself, and made it clear he would not take a job without a written contract. The employer told him how ungrateful he was to turn down work when “many like you” were dying to get this job. The young man stood his ground, rejected the job offer and walked out.
It was a powerful storyline, familiar to me and surely to many other migrants and vulnerable workers in unregulated sectors. It told my story and the story of many domestic workers today, in Ireland and around the globe.
Unfortunately, there are very few people who would be as brave as the young man in this play, as oftentimes dire circumstances and lack of better opportunities contribute to people accepting exploitative jobs.
Mariaam Bhatti is a member of the Domestic Workers Action Group and Forced Labour Action Group of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland.
