| Activity | The first Indian Workers Associations were local organisations founded before the Second World War. They were mainly concerned with campaigning for India's Independence. During the 1950s, many of these local organisations were revived when larger numbers of Indian migrants came to Britain in search of work or to join family members already living here. Local branches were centralised in 1959, and the national organisation became known as the Indian Workers Association (Great Britain). Initially, the IWA focused on welfare activities, helping members with passport applications and completing housing and income tax forms but, during the 1960s, the organisation became more involved in political campaigns, particularly in opposing racism and fascism in Britain, uniting with other black organisations and any group with similar aims. The IWA also supported national liberation and anti-imperialist struggles in other countries - particularly in India - and participated in the struggles of the British working class.
Major campaigns focused on discrimination and social exclusion facing Indian and other black and Asian migrants in Britain through poor housing conditions; employment inequalities; the operation of a 'colour bar' in employment and education, as well as in shops, public houses, and other leisure facilities; and the restrictions of immigration legislation introduced during the 1960s and 1970s. The IWA supported industrial disputes involving black and Asian workers at workplaces in the Midlands and expressed solidarity with the Trade Union movement, although it also campaigned against racial discrimination within trade unions.
The Indian Workers Association continues to run a welfare and advice centre at the Shaheed Udham Singh Welfare Centre, 346 Soho Road, Birmingham, and remains active in the struggle for social justice. |