Workers: Ela Bhatt

Ela Bhatt (1933-2022) was an activist and organizer who founded the Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA), which serves primarily low-income women across India. She went on to become an influential figure, known internationally for her work in cooperatives, labor organizing, and microfinance.

For Further reading:

• The New York Times: Ela Bhatt, Advocate for Women Workers in India, Dies at 89
• We Are Poor But So Many: The Story of Self-Employed Women in India
• A Discussion with Ela Bhatt, Founder, Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)

This month we’re talking about workers: Women who fought for labor rights and shaped the way we do business today. They advocated and innovated to make the “office” – wherever it is – a more equitable place.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this
is Womanica. This month, we're talking about workers, women who
fought for labor rights and shaped the way we do
business today. They advocated and innovated to make the office
wherever it is, a more equitable place. Today's Wilmaniquin helped
the poor, oppressed and overlooked. After seeing the conditions suffered

(00:26):
by self employed women in India, she spent her life
fighting to get them more recognition and a path towards
self reliance. Let's talk about Ela. But in nineteen eighteen,
Mahatma Gandhi fasted for three days he stood in solidarity
with striking textile mill workers in Ahmadabad, India. It was

(00:48):
the first of many peaceful actions Gandhi would stage to
bring justice for the poor and disadvantage in India. Fifteen
years later, in that same Indian city, another revolutionary was born.
She would draw inspiration from that peaceful revolutionary who fought
for those without a voice, but she'd also forge her

(01:08):
own path. Ela was born on September seventh, nineteen thirty three,
in Ahmadabad. Her father was a lawyer who worked with
non government organizations and charity groups. Her mother was an
activist who focused on women's education and social welfare. In
nineteen fifty two, Ela graduated from college with a degree

(01:29):
in English. Then she went on to earn a law degree.
She won a gold medal for being first in her class.
Two years later, she met and married Ramesh, but theirs
was a love marriage, which meant it wasn't arranged. It
was unusual for the time, but then Ela was an
unusual woman. Ela lived in the western Indian state of Gujarat,

(01:54):
which had a budding textile industry. Most of the mill
workers were men, who were protect by labor laws and
enjoyed benefits. Women workers, meanwhile, were part of India's informal sector.
They were paid almost nothing, didn't receive benefits, and were
not unionized. Ela sought to change this. In nineteen seventy one,

(02:18):
Ela met with a group of headloaders, women who carried
cloth on their heads between wholesale and retail markets. They
told Ela that the merchants were cheating them out of
their money, so Ela helped them organize a group to
collectively demand better pay. Soon that group turned into the
Self Employed Women's Association or SEWA. ELA brought together headloaders,

(02:41):
cigarette rollers, potters, weavers and other workers in the informal sector,
women who for years had been abused by the system,
and they were ready for a fight. At first, the
Labor Department refused to recognize SEA as a trade union.
The women had no recognized employee, so there was no
one to struggle against, But the group was persistent. They

(03:05):
believed that just because women's work took place in the
home or on the street, that did not mean it
should be overlooked. Why should there be a difference between
worker and worker, Ela argued. In nineteen seventy two, say
What became the world's first all women trade union in
the unorganized sector. It grew into one of the region's

(03:27):
largest cooperatives, a safety net for women who had been
left on their own. With the help of SEWA, women
gained skills and things like pottery, embroidery, and spinning, and
turned those skills into lucrative businesses. They got jobs that
were previously only available to men, like working in mills, construction,
and agriculture. For the first time, women were respected as

(03:49):
business owners with bargaining power, not just as wives and daughters.
Ela also helped found the Cooperative Bank of Sewa, India's
first women bank. It set women up with their own
bank accounts and retirement funds, giving them even more economic freedom.
ELA's work did not go unnoticed. In nineteen eighty five

(04:12):
and nineteen eighty six, she received two of India's highest
civilian honors, the Padma Bushin and the Padma Shri. In
nineteen eighty six, Ela was appointed to the upper house
of India's parliament. There, she headed the National Commission on
Self Employed Women for several years. In two thousand and seven,
Ela became a member of the Elders, founded by Nelson Mandela.

(04:36):
The organization brings together leaders from around the world to
fight injustice and bring about peace. On November two, twenty
twenty two, Ela passed away in Ahmadabad. She was eighty
nine years old. All month We're talking about workers. For
more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Wamanica

(04:57):
podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and
co creator. Talk to you tomorrow.