Faces and Places: Sarwan Singh and the Indian Workers Association [cont]

Description:DISCRIMINATION AT WORK

My friend got me a job as a labourer in a factory in Digbeth area. As this was my first job I was told by the supervisor to clean the place and help the other people working. The majority of the people working there were white. I did not like the job there and started asking other friends if there are other places where I can find a job. I left the job and started looking for another job I was told by my friends that there are foundries in Smethwick area and asked me to go there and look for a job. I went to Smethwick in front of a foundry gate and there was a queue of black people. I joined the queue and about after an hour a white man came out of the office. He started looking at the queue. He asked four young people to come into the office and took our details. We were asked to start the job the next day.

Next day we went to the foundry and we were introduced to a white supervisor. He gave us the cleaning jobs on different sections. After few weeks I saw that all the good, skilled and easy jobs were done by the white workers and all the hard, hot, dirty labouring was done by black workers. There were so many different sections in the foundry such as melting plant ,casters, moulders, core maker, grinding shop, dressers, inspection, despatch and others, There was a union. If there was a vacancy where the jobs are easy, clean and more pay then the white worker would ask the supervisor to give that job to his friend or family member. The supervisor would speak to the manager and that person got the job. He is started direct on the job. The supervisor asked the fellow worker to help him and to train him on the job. On the other hand a black worker is going to be started on the hard, hot and dirty job, has to wait out side in the queue. He is going to be started in the labour queue and sent to the jobs turn by turn. If a black worker could not do the hard, hot and dirty job, he was told to go home. His employment with the company was terminated. If this happened to the white man, he was given the opportunity to do another job, which he can do. The white workers and the management helped him. The black people were only given the job if white people cannot do it or don’t want to do that. I was working with a gang of people who were mostly white and I was given the hard job. I was working as a spare moulder to relieve ten workers. For weeks I carry on doing this job. I was paid lot less than the other workers. I asked the supervisor why I have been paid fewer wage. He spoke to the manager and he also told the other workers.

Next day when I arrived at work I was called by the supervisor and told me that there is no work for me in this section and ask the other supervisor to take me to the other section. The other supervisor took me to his section and I was told to work on the knock out. (Knock out was a very hard, hot heavy and dirty job) I understood that this is all happening because I asked for more pay and this is a plan to get rid of me. As I mentioned above that there was a union but my shop steward was white and he did not help me, instead he helped the management. At that time all the shop stewards were white and they did not look after the black members. The shop stewards and the supervisors played the same game of dividing the workers between black and white and kept the profit up for the employers. If there is a shortage of work the black workers were made redundant and white workers were kept. The black workers’ jobs were given to the white workers.