Simmering discontent among domestic helps in Gurugram

Underpaid and ignored, workers talk of rising manpower driving their wages down and the need for unions to secure their rights

DE18 protest

Naseema Bibi, who works at a flat in Sector 55 here as a domestic help, earned around ₹3,500 per month for doing the dishes and cooking twice a day. But her employer has now pushed the rate down to ₹2,500 per month since new women from the village are ready to work for less.

The migration of new labour into Delhi-NCR is continuous, which means those who moved earlier are finding it increasingly difficult to push for higher wages for the multitude of household chores they perform. Overall, Gurugram has witnessed a nominal increase or, in some cases, even a slump in wages for domestic services over the past few years. So a worker like Meena Toppo has barely seen a rise of ₹5,000 in her overall wages in over two decades she has been working in Gurugram.

In recent times, the crisis of falling wages in the domestic service industry, coupled with the complete lack of regulation of the employer-worker relationship by the State has pushed many workers towards seeking redress for problems like withholding of wages, denial of leave, assaults etc. by drawing strength from workers’ collectives.

Collective struggle

Explaining the reasons behind the recent trend of unionisation among the domestic workers, Maya John, convener, Gharleu Kamgar Union (GKU), said: “Partly, the current trend of unionisation and collective struggle can be explained by the fact that there is a simmering discontent among the workers. They are looking for platforms through which they can defend their rights and stand up to their employers and an apathetic State. With its committed activist base, GKU has acted as a catalyst in unionising Gurugram’s domestic workers quite rapidly this past year.”

Domestic workers’ unions are able to easily tap into the workers’ indignation and build a large membership base due to the growing realisation among workers of the benefits of a collective struggle. A protest outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner in mini-secretariat this past month in favour of their 11 demands and a spirited demonstration seeking justice for Ranjeeta Brahma — a teenage Assamese domestic worker who died under mysterious circumstances at Carlton in DLF Phase-V — in March this year, indicate the new trend among workers to collectively fight for their rights.

Migrant labour

“The protest outside the DC office also indicates their realisation that the struggle for labour rights should be targeted at employers and also the State authorities, who have been quietly witnessing intense exploitation of a large workforce, especially females,” said Ms. John.

Being migrant labour, they are fearful not just of employers but also of the local police and locals on whom they are dependent for accommodation etc.

Puja Mishra, who heads the Domestic Help Committee in Nirvana Country, lamented that though the domestic workers were an integral part of our lives, the connect between the employer and the employee was missing. “It is because of this missing connect that there have been incidents like workers hurling stones at a group housing society in Noida or going on strike in several condominiums in Gurugram seeking wage hike,” said Ms. Mishra.

Seema, a domestic help at Sector 15-II, said “We now realise that we can’t always rely on NGOs or the media to come to our rescue. It’s important to create our own support system through unions”.