Menaha Kandasamy

Social Scientists Association

Pamphlet No. 06
From Plantations to Domestic Labour
The New Form of Exploitation and
Political Marginalization of Women
Social Scientists Association 2014
ISBN 978-955-0762-27-9
Published by
Social Scientists Association
12, Sulaiman Terrace,
Colombo 5, Sri Lanka.
Tel: +94-11-2501339 / 2504623
www.ssalanka.org
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World Vision Graphics
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1
From Plantations to Domestic Labour The New From Plantations to Domestic Labour The New From Plantations to Domestic Labour The New From Plantations to Domestic Labour The New From Plantations to Domestic Labour The New
Form of Exploitation and Political Marginalization Form of Exploitation and Political Marginalization Form of Exploitation and Political Marginalization Form of Exploitation and Political Marginalization Form of Exploitation and Political Marginalization
of W of W of W of W of Women omen omen omen omen
A phenomenon of relatively recent origin that has not
been studied in depth is the significant movement of women
from the plantation sector into domestic work in urban and other
areas, as well as their migration to the Middle East. This
movement of labour has not entailed an upward mobility of
labour, but represents a horizontal move from one form of
captive labour on plantations to another as domestic labour in
households. In doing so, whereas some gains are possible, there
may occur a serious denial of economic and political rights that
ironically they had obtained after nearly a century of struggle
on the plantations.
A subject attracting only occasional attention in the press
or elsewhere is that of domestic workers in Sri Lanka in general.
This is a scattered, unorganized and isolated part of the labour
force which has little legal protection and often suffers severe
restraints on democratic rights. Many of the benefits applicable
to other workers such as gratuities, provident funds and trade
union rights do not cover those in domestic service. They are
also denied minimum wages, and the conditions and hours of
work, vacation and maternity leave, which other workers
possess, are not stipulated. This group of workers form one of
the most exploited groups in society, to whom the benefits under
the labour laws often do not apply.
This pamphlet examines briefly the situation of domestic
workers in the past in Sri Lanka, and discusses the specific case
of the move by young plantation women into urban domestic
service. It highlights the case for these workers unionization,
2
and refers to the recent founding of a trade union for domestic
workers. It also cites some of the analyses by scholars abroad on
the issue of domestic work and suggests the need for more such
research in Sri Lanka. The basic proposition of this pamphlet is
that by moving from the plantation sector to domestic labour,
women have relocated from one form of exploitation to another
from one form of patriarchy to another, from the frying pan
into the fire.
Appoo, 19
th
-century domestic
helper. Courtesy R.K. de Silva and
Kumari Jayawardena, Pictorial
Impressions of Early Colonial Sri
Lanka, 2014, p. 122.
Ellas Ayah, 19
th
-century domestic
helper. Courtesy R.K. de Silva and
Kumari Jayawardena, Pictorial
Impressions of Early Colonial Sri
Lanka, 2014, p. 136.
3
Part I Part I Part I Part I Part I
Domestic Labour the Background Domestic Labour the Background Domestic Labour the Background Domestic Labour the Background Domestic Labour the Background
One of the oldest professions in the world is that of domestic
labour whereby household chores are farmed out to non-family
members. Domestic work is associated historically with servitude
under slavery and feudalism, while under capitalism such work
became more akin to wage labour. Feudal attitudes to domestic
workers, however, have tended to persist. But in todays context
of global capitalism, domestic work has taken on a new face. It
is part of the international network of exploitation in the form
of the export of labour from developing countries to richer
ones. The income of these migrants mainly women forms an
important part of the Sri Lankas foreign exchange earnings.
However, these workers have no right to vote in their home
countries , a situation on which there has been some agitation.
Domestic work has always been one of the most
exploitative and oppressive forms of labour, characterized by
low wages, gratuities or economic benefits, no fixed hours of
work or leave and few political rights. Such labour is not
organized, or unionized, and usually involves residing at the
employers home. In many countries domestic labour is recruited
from the impoverished peasantry, the urban poor or from
migrant labour. It remains one of the least desirable forms of
occupation and only attracts those who lack the education skills
or opportunities to do better jobs. Domestic workers remain
therefore on the margins of society, and Sri Lanka is no exception.
Their political rights are often nonexistent and such workers
seldom receive leave to go to their villages/homes to cast their
votes. What is more, even if these workers receive relatively good
pay, because of the social stigma associated with domestic work
they hesitate to acknowledge or publicize the fact that they are
servants.
4
Domestic service of outsiders by the family has always
been in existence in Sri Lanka among the higher echelons of
society of all communities. In classic literature and in murals
there is inevitably a portrayal of domestics. For example in the
popular 15
th
century classic Kavyasekera, a Brahmin advises his
daughter to wash her husbands feet herself when he returns
home rather than delegate the task to servants. By the 16
th
century the Portuguese colonizers of Sri Lanka used slaves as
domestic servants, many of them from their African colonies,
who continued to work after Dutch occupation of the maritime
provinces. During British rule, Percival Cordiner commented
in the early 19
th
century on the difficulty of procuring servants
from among the natives and noted that: The Dutch settlers in
Ceylon use no other servants but slaves, a family of whom always
composes part of their household (1807:80-81). He also stated
that British residents who had earlier worked in India for the
sake of comfort and convenience carried their (Indian) domestics
with them (Cordiner quoted in Denham 1912:48). In 1871 the
colonial government passed the Registration of Domestic Servants
Ordinance which merely provided for official registration books
for servants issued by a government-appointed registrar, but
no stipulation about wages and conditions of work.
By 1911, according to the Census Report of that year, the
low-country Sinhalese in domestic service formed half of all male
domestic servants and three-fourths of all female servants. The
second highest group of males in domestic service were Indian
Tamils (gardeners, housekeepers and house servants) (Ibid.:489).
They were either more skilled workers from estates or from the
urban Indian-Tamil working class.
Domestic labour in the early 20
th
century also included
Kandyan Sinhalese, Ceylon Tamils, Moors, Malays, Burghers and
Eurasians. Pay varied according to the class of employees and
the work performed. In rural areas, landowners and prosperous
persons would employ numerous poverty-stricken villagers and
5
members of their families as domestic servants. The practice
among the poor of giving children ostensibly for adoption, but
actually as child servants, was also prevalent throughout the
island.
Highlighting the Problem Highlighting the Problem Highlighting the Problem Highlighting the Problem Highlighting the Problem
There was publicity in the Sri Lankan newspapers of ill treatment
of domestic labour, and the issue of exploitation of women and
children domestics became a topic of discussion in the 1920s
leading to the State Council appointing, in 1934, a Sub-Committee
chaired by D.B. Jayatilake on the Employment (Domestic
Service) of Women and Children and the Control of
Orphanages. While the official report glossed over the problems,
in a dissenting report the only leftist member of the State Council
(who was on this Sub-Committee) Dr S.A. Wickremasinghe said
that: The employment of children for domestic purposes is most
inhuman, and he condemned the system of child slavery. He
also referred to the prevalent poverty in the country and the
existence of an enormous supply of domestic servants in spite
of low wages, long and unlimited hours of work, drudgery,
and added that this was an indication of the extreme economic
instability of the people (Sessional Paper 11 of 1935:9).
Jayawardena has remarked that in the past, women of the
Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim bourgeoisie were able to sustain
their extravagant life-styles, because of the existence of a host of
underpaid servants, mainly women and often children, noting
also that in the case of the Mudaliyars, the exploitation of female
servants was feudal in practice being often recruited from
among the depressed caste girls of the villages near the rural
manor houses (2000:294). Writing of her elite relatives of the
Bandaranaike clan, Yasmine Gooneratne notes that: No
household such as ours could have functioned for a day without
the Jane Nonas, the Alices, Carolines and the Magilins who
lent their skills with needle, broom, iron, wash-tub, and frying
6
pan. She also comments on the treatment of servants which
ranged from kindness and indifference to downright brutality
(including) brandings, burnings, assault, and unwanted
pregnancies (1986:214-16, 221).
Recent Recent Recent Recent Recent Agitation Agitation Agitation Agitation Agitation
While wages for domestic labour have fluctuated, these workers
continue to form the unorganized, low-paid sector of the
economy. From time to time the conditions of domestic labour
have been taken up by concerned groups. In 2007 the Womens
Education and Research Centre (WERC) had discussions on
domestic labour and made recommendations to the minister of
Labour on the need to regulate their employment.
Newspapers and writers have regularly, over many
decades, highlighted instances of assaults, torture and murder
of domestic workers and the illegal employment of underage
children. Recently the Sunday Island column Gender Matters
noted that domestic workers:
Provide an essential service in our increasingly nuclear households
where both partners work, but have minimum recognition as
part of the countrys work force. (Sunday Island, 17 March 2013:9)
They are called by many politically incorrect names (cook
woman, servant girl, kolla, kella, podian), and whether in Sinhala
or Tamil the terms used to address domestic workers are often
demeaning, the umb/nee forms being still in usage. Umba
(Sinhala), nee (Tamil) is the second person singular form (similar
to tu in French) for children, animals and familiar friends, and
is also an insult when used with strangers, minorities or the
poor. One may note that the employer (as in slave society) would
often change the birth name of the domestic worker if it was too
high sounding to a more appropriate plebian name.
7
Resear Resear Resear Resear Researching Domestic W ching Domestic W ching Domestic W ching Domestic W ching Domestic Workers orkers orkers orkers orkers
With expansion in the demand for domestic labour in developed
countries, feminist researchers have in recent years explored this
issue. Gabrielle Meagher has defined this labour as waged
domestic labour or paid household work involving cleaning,
cooking, laundry, child care, household management etc
performed for payment, usually to replace otherwise unpaid
household labour (1997:23). She defines two features of such
work, namely, the direct purchase of labour time, rather than
labour-embodying commodities (prepared food, ready-made
clothing, labour-saving devices), as well as work performed in
the home of the purchasing householder (Ibid.).
The paradox of domestic service has been referred to by
Mary Romero in her book Maid in the USA as involving work
considered degrading, but also possibly higher paying than some
other unskilled occupations (1992:12, cited in Meagher 1997:24).
She also comments on the class relationship that occurs when a
middle-class woman farms out her household chores to a paid
worker often from a subordinate ethnic group who relieves
her of the sexist burden of housework (Ibid.).
Writers on domestic labour highlight the private nature of
this labour where the rules are different from other jobs,
especially since such workers lack the ability or power to negotiate
agreements about their conditions of work. Moreover the
subordination and deference associated with domestic work are
characterized not only by class exploitation but also by race and
gender subordination. In this connection Meagher refers to the
importance of analyzing the occupation in terms of the
interaction of ethnicity, class and gender (1997:2).
Similar to factories, shops and plantations, the home thus
becomes a location of employment. A question that arises
concerns the nature of work that involves residence in the
employer s home a situation which embodies several
patriarchal and semi-feudal aspects. A further question that often
8
arises is how domestic work can be categorized. Such issues are
raised in this pamphlet in order to analyze the phenomenon of
young women in the plantation sector moving from one form
of exploitation as plantation labour to another as domestic labour
in areas outside the plantations.
Image Courtesy of Middle East Online
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=38695
Image Courtesy of The Island
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-
details&page=article-details&code_title=74891
9
Part II Part II Part II Part II Part II
Plantation W Plantation W Plantation W Plantation W Plantation Workers in Domestic W orkers in Domestic W orkers in Domestic W orkers in Domestic W orkers in Domestic Work ork ork ork ork
In Sri Lanka the nationalized plantations were privatized and
handed over to 23 companies. Earlier, the practice on most estates
was for young people born on plantations to register their names
with the management in order to start to work on the plantations.
But after privatization this process was slowed down leading to
unemployment among plantation youth. Many young persons
moved from the plantations looking for jobs in cities and abroad.
Young men found work as shop assistants and waiters, while
young women found work in garment factories or as domestic
workers.
Those who found employment as domestic workers are
often isolated from their own families and communities. There
is no legal protection for these workers. Domestic work is a
service industry, but there are no unions that bargain for better
salaries and regulation of working conditions. Therefore, the
value of the work is grossly underestimated as they are not
considered to be workers. As they work in very isolated situations,
their problems are also invisible. Domestic workers are also not
aware of the labour market nor are they able to negotiate for a
fairer wage and better conditions.
Several countries in Asia continue to export domestic
workers (mainly women) to the Middle East and other East Asian
countries. Much has been written and researched about the
working conditions of these workers and the exploitation they
are subjected to. On the other hand, the plight of domestic
workers working in Sri Lanka has not been adequately
researched or documented.
Brokers Brokers Brokers Brokers Brokers
Normally recruitment for domestic work occurs through brokers,
who are themselves from the plantation sector. These are mostly
10
men but sometimes the main male broker has sub-brokers who
may be female. As one worker remarked:
A person who sends the workers to Colombo from our estate for
domestic work gets my first months salary as a commission and
also I noticed the employer paid him some money the day he left
me in the house.
Some brokers do not give details of the workplace to the
domestic workers family, but give the workers salary to the
parents or family members. Some workers claim that they do
not know their work place, address and other details, and are
not aware how much salary they earn. Only the brokers know
these details.
Research has confirmed that few households employing
plantation women workers give them leave to go home to vote.
Rarely are they listed as voters in the places they work as
domestic labour. One can cite an example from 1936, when a
candidate in the Colombo South electorate breached the usual
protocol and caused a stir by asking householders, while
canvassing, if he could also speak to their servants to canvass
their vote (Jayawardena 2012:100).
Moreover political rights such as trade union membership
which exists on plantations are unavailable to domestic labour;
the reason is that such labour is often of a semi-feudal nature,
unlike plantation workers who today are technically free after
work to participate in political and other activities. Resident
domestic labour in contrast is tied to the place of work day and
night.
Education Education Education Education Education
The level of education of domestic workers from the plantation
sector is generally low. Mostly girls and women who never went
to school or who could not continue school for various reasons
11
become domestic workers. This is the job where no one asks
about experience in cooking or cleaning. It is assumed that if a
worker is a woman, then she can do housework without any
problem. Since formal education is not required for domestic
labour, young girls who do not want to work on plantations or
workers who have retired choose to move to domestic work.
ILO Convention on Domestic W ILO Convention on Domestic W ILO Convention on Domestic W ILO Convention on Domestic W ILO Convention on Domestic Workers orkers orkers orkers orkers
The Convention on Domestic Workers (No. 189) was adopted at
the International Labour Organizations 100
th
annual conference
in June 2011. It requires governments to protect the human and
labour rights of domestic workers and defines minimum
standards for decent working conditions. The ILO estimates that
there are 52.6 million domestic workers, of whom 43.6 million
are women. Recognizing that domestic workers often suffer
extreme hardship and human rights violations, including
payment below the statutory minimum wage with no overtime
pay or rest days, the ILO adopted this long-overdue Convention
under which a domestic worker is defined as follows.
(a) The term domestic work domestic work domestic work domestic work domestic work means work performed in or
for a household or households;
(b) The term domestic worker domestic worker domestic worker domestic worker domestic worker means any person engaged
in domestic work within an employment relationship;
(c) A person who performs domestic work occasionally or
sporadically and not on an occupational basis is not a domestic
worker.
The Convention on Domestic Workers offers specific protection
to domestic workers, lays down basic rights and principles, and
requires states to take a series of measures with a view to making
decent work a reality for domestic workers. Article 7 states that
Domestic workers must be informed of their terms and
12
conditions of employment. This Convention has so far not been
ratified by Sri Lanka.
What is special about What is special about What is special about What is special about What is special about Article 7 of the Convention? Article 7 of the Convention? Article 7 of the Convention? Article 7 of the Convention? Article 7 of the Convention?
Sri Lanka is a member of the ILO. Therefore, the state should
take measures to ensure that domestic workers are informed of
their terms and conditions of employment in an appropriate,
verifiable and easily understandable manner and preferably,
where possible, through written contracts in accordance with
national laws, regulations or collective agreements, in particular
including:
(a) the name and address of the employer and of the
worker;
(b) the address of the usual workplace or workplaces;
(c) the starting date and, where the contract is for a specified
period of time, its duration;
(d) the type of work to be performed;
(e) the remuneration, method of calculation and periodicity
of payments;
(f) the normal hours of work;
(g) paid annual leave, and daily and weekly rest periods;
(h) the provision of food and accommodation, if applicable;
(i) the period of probation or trial period, if applicable;
(j) the terms of repatriation, if applicable; and
(k) terms and conditions relating to the termination of
employment, including any period of notice by either the
domestic worker or the employer.
Why is Why is Why is Why is Why is Article 5 so important? Article 5 so important? Article 5 so important? Article 5 so important? Article 5 so important?
Its importance is connected with protecting workers from abuse.
Governments are therefore urged to enforce the necessary
legislation. Article 5 states:
13
Each Member shall take measures to ensure that domestic workers
enjoy effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment
and violence.
What are the things domestic workers need to take into What are the things domestic workers need to take into What are the things domestic workers need to take into What are the things domestic workers need to take into What are the things domestic workers need to take into
consideration? consideration? consideration? consideration? consideration?
Before entering employment, they should agree with the terms
of employment, which should include:
Job and the tasks the job involves, hours of work and rest
Employer s name, telephone number and address of
employment
Salary and date of payment
Number of holidays per year
Paid sick leave and other leave such as emergency leave
Terms for communication between/within the family
Space for sleeping and resting
Right to join a union
In 2008 the Red Flag Womens Movement, which is the
womens section of the Ceylon Workers Union, organized a
trade union meeting to lobby for a legal draft for the protection
of domestic workers. As a result of this meeting, ten trade unions
signed a document that set out the problems of domestic workers
and the need for legal reform and recognition.
Why is there a need for legal reform and recognition? Why is there a need for legal reform and recognition? Why is there a need for legal reform and recognition? Why is there a need for legal reform and recognition? Why is there a need for legal reform and recognition?
Domestic workers do not fall within the purview of the
legislative framework in Sri Lanka.
The laws, which provide the legal framework for the
recognition and protection of workers in the private
employment sector, do not recognize domestic workers as
part of the formal workforce, thereby not providing any
framework of protection and rights for them.
14
Stemming from this lack of legislative framework for
domestic workers, there are no reported court cases or
judgments that deal with any form of issue or incident
involving domestic workers. As such, the legal literature does
not recognize domestic workers as legal entities.
Further, the laws that apply to Sri Lankan domestic
workers working in other countries, drawn up in the Sri
Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act, should also apply
to domestic workers working in Sri Lanka.
As a result domestic workers are not protected by labour
laws, in relation to legal binding contracts, equal wage
regulations and decent working conditions, and are not
afforded safety and protection from exploitation and abuse.
It is therefore imperative that legislative and It is therefore imperative that legislative and It is therefore imperative that legislative and It is therefore imperative that legislative and It is therefore imperative that legislative and
administrative attention is focussed on: administrative attention is focussed on: administrative attention is focussed on: administrative attention is focussed on: administrative attention is focussed on:
Legal recognition of domestic workers in Sri Lanka as
workers in the formal labour force
Ensure that domestic workers are protected by all labour
laws and decent work principles
Implement compulsory contracts, minimum wage
policies and safety networks for domestic workers that hold
employers accountable through the enforcement of such by
the Department of Labour.
V VV VVoices of W oices of W oices of W oices of W oices of Women Domestic W omen Domestic W omen Domestic W omen Domestic W omen Domestic Workers orkers orkers orkers orkers
The experience of domestic workers varies, as one of them
remarked:
I am lucky to have this employer. The house where I am working
they treat me like their daughter. They pay my agreed salary on
time. They allow me to talk to my family regularly. I am allowed to
watch TV. I am living more peacefully in my work place than I
would at home.
15
(based on interviews with domestic works of plantation origin)
Case Study Case Study Case Study Case Study Case Study
I am 31 years old and have been working for 19 years as a
domestic worker. When I was small I thought that if I studied
well I could be a teacher. But my fathers death made my life
difficult. I was nine years old when I lost my father. My mother
told me, I am sad that you cant continue your studies. I asked
her, Why cant I? She answered, We dont have your fathers
income now. So you are the elder one in our family. We both
need to look after our family. At that time it was not a big issue
for me. I started to help my mother. I went with her to the field
without the knowledge of the Kangani and plucked tea to
increase my mothers plucking weight and went back to my
house early to do all the cleaning and washing. It is so difficult
to wash my brothers shirt because he always plays in the mud.
I have to wash it three times to clean it. The brother next to me
always complains about me to my mother. My mother never
asks me if what he says is true. I always get the scolding and
beating. I did not enjoy my childhood at all. When I was 13
years old, my mother asked me to go and work in a businessmans
house that is closer to Kandy. I did not like to leave home but I
understood that my mother was also sick and she was not earning
much to feed the family.
Domestic Workers Good Experiences Domestic Workers Bad Experiences
The employer treats me like his/her child. I have to sleep in the kitchen. After I get up I
keep all my sleeping things in the kitchen.
I am so happy that I eat the same food that the
employers family eats.
I have to work even if I am sick. They cannot
understand that a sick person cannot work.
If I am sick, they buy medicine for me and ask
me to take a rest.
I am not allowed inside the house, only in the
kitchen, but when they need to clean the house
I am allowed in.
They buy new clothes for me for the festival. I have to beg to get my salary. Always there is
a 2-4 day delay in payment.
They allow me to watch television. I have
flexible working hours.
I was promised Rs. 6,000 a month but I get only
Rs. 3,000.
They increase my salary every year. They do not allow me to communicate with my
family directly.

16
After I started my job as a domestic worker I faced a
lot of problems in that house. There was no proper place to
sleep. I worked for more than 13 hours. I had to cook for not
only one family but also five men who are working in their
shop. They never called me by my name Mala, but kella (girl).
Because of some problem I faced with that employer I was
uneasy in that house. When I was 15 years old, I came back
home. My mother was unhappy that I came back. I do not
like to tell my mother what happened in that house.
I found another workplace in Kandy and again started
my work. The same problems continued. They agreed to pay
6,000/= but paid 3,000/= the first three months and told me
they were deducting my meal expenditure from my salary.
They said dont worry when you go back home for a holiday
we will pay the arrears. It never happened. They said this
same thing every year when I went home but the arrears were
never paid. Even some months they skip payment. If I am sick
they buy medicine and deduct this cost from my wage. I got
used to this practice. Now I have no big expectations. Now
my brothers are all grown up, they are earning and are looking
after themselves. I also lost my mother four years ago.
Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion
The plantation system of production in the colonial period was
initially modeled on slavery, which already existed in households
in Europe. Subsequent changes such as indentured labour (on
contract) and often forms of recruitment for plantation have been
termed new systems of slavery (Kurian and Jayawardena,
forthcoming). These observations were based on the captive
features of the labour force in the plantations in the 19th and
early 20th centuries, characterized in Sri Lanka by trespass laws
against outsiders, lack of mobility of workers, isolation from
urban labour, harsh and cruel laws restricting bolting from
estates, violent management practices and patriarchal control of
women workers. Given this slave-type legacy have the structures
17
on plantations changed? Why are there still aspirations among
workers to move out of the plantations to what they feel is a
freer type of work situation in urban areas?
This pamphlet attempts to raise these issues and asks
certain basic questions about whether the new type of bolting
from the estate to domestic labour has improved the situation of
young women of plantation background. Are these domestic
workers the new captive labour force, hidden from public
scrutiny like other domestic workers? This is clearly a time for
exposure and changes in this old system of semi-slavery in the
form of domestic work which is prevalent in our society.
Bibliography Bibliography Bibliography Bibliography Bibliography
Cordiner, Percival 1807, Description of Ceylon, London,
Longman, Hurst,Rees & Orme
Denham, E.B. 1912, Ceylon at the Census of 1911, Colombo,
Government Printers.
de Silva, R.K. and Kumari Jayawardena 2014, Pictorial
Impressions of Early Colonial Sri Lanka: Peoples Customs
and Occupations.London, Serendib Publications
Gooneratne, Yasmine 1986, Relative Merits: A Personal Memoir
of the Bandaranaike Family of Sri Lanka, New York, St.
Martins Press.
Jayawardena, Kumari 2012, A.P. de Zoysa A Combative Socio-
Democrat and Reformist Buddhist, Colombo, Sanjiva
Books.
_______ 2007, Nobodies to Somebodies: The Rise of the Colonial
Bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka, Colombo, Social Scientists
Association (2000).
Meagher, Gabrielle 1997, Recreating Domestic Service
Institutional Cultures and the Evolution of Paid
Household Work, Feminist Economics, 3(2), 1-27.
Romero, Mary 2002, Maid in the USA, New York, Routledge,
Chapman and Hall (1992).
18
Wickremasinghe, S.A. 1935, Dissenting Report of the Sub-
Committee on Employment (Domestic Services) of
Women and Children and the Control of Orphanages,
Sessional Paper 11 of 1935, Colombo, Government Press.
Menaha Kandasamy is the first woman to lead a plantation trade
union in the country, namely, the Ceylon Plantation Workers (Red
Flag) Union. She is a founder of the Red Flag Womens Movement
(RFWM) as part of the main trade union dealing with issues such as
womens oppression and domestic violence. She also formed a
Domestic Workers Trade Union which includes membership of
women from the plantation community.