The TUC is the voice of Britain at work. With 54 affiliated unions representing 6.2 million working people from all walks of life, they campaign for a fair deal at work and for social justice at home and abroad. As the first Muslim president of south Asian origin, Mohammad Taj has taken it upon himself to continue to lobby for changes, alter legislation and represent the south Asian community.
Mohammad Taj just turned 20 when he started working as a bus driver. It was during this time that he saw substantial corruption amongst the ethnic minority workers and employers. Little to his knowledge, a local newspaper was conducting an investigation into the company, which delivered evidence of unfair treatment towards employees. As many of these ethnic minority workers couldn’t speak English, they didn’t know how to go about getting a job. It was through a middleman who would assist the bribery of many immigrants finding work.
Mohammad was invited to a meeting to discuss the issue, when he was elected as a representative of the workers. It became his role to stand up to management regardless of his flawed English.
Coming into the role with having very high expectations- especially by the ethnic groups, he wanted to speak for those who had no voice. He said: “I was a youngster; so there was a feeling that I had a cutting edge.” It was a lack of mutual understanding that led to the dismissal of many ethnic workers jobs and Mohammad wanted to change that. “When these workers were travelling back to their home country, they needed extended holidays. It was through our work that we decided to extend the holiday period, allowing them to travel up to 18-20 weeks without leaving the service”
Mohammad intended to be an activist; wanting to get more ethnic minorities involved in trade unions, particularly women. He said: “While we are involved in politics, we need to do more, because politics does matter. We are under vicious attack by mainstream media regarding religion and if we speak up, we can make a change. It’s a simple argument; these institutions need young people to give their view point. For example, only a girl in a hijab knows the aggression she faces on the street. That shouldn’t be the case.”
Heartily promoting the need for all south Asians to join trade unions, he argued: “I would encourage people to participate. When people lose jobs, you still have to pay for justice, which is very unfair.”
“We have a moral duty to encourage young people; not to become gatekeepers, but to open the gates for people to walk through.”
