Jayaben Desai

Who was Jayaben Desai?

Jayaben Desai was a prominent leader of the strikers in the Grunwick dispute in London in 1976.

Born in Gujarat, India, Desai moved to Tanzania in 1965, but was then expelled and arrived in Britain, where she took up low-paid work, first as a sewing machinist, then processing film in the Grunwick factory. 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.

Desai led the strikers in their epic two-year picket from 1976 to 1978. She had a colourful way with words, for example her parting shot to the boss when she led the walkout: "What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips, others are lions who can bite your head off. We are the lions, Mr. Manager."

Mrs Desai recorded her thoughts for the Brent Museum archives.