Papers of other political and campaigning organisations

This section of the archive primarily comprises organisational records of a number of campaigning groups and political parties active in Britain, India and Canada, most of which the Indian Workers Association co-operated with on specific campaigns, or which individual members were involved with in as committee members or office holders. Papers consist of reports; correspondence; minutes and agendas; press statements; circulars; leaflets and flyers; articles; newsletters; magazines and pamphlets.

The organisations the Indian Workers Association was most closely associated with were the Association of Indian Communists, in which many office holders in the Indian Workers Association took a prominent role, and the Campaign Against Racist Laws, in which members from both Indian Workers Associations (GB) held official positions. Some members also joined the Socialist Labour Party in the later 1990s, and stood for election for this party. Avtar Jouhl was a member of the Management Committee of both the Immigration Aid Unit and the Sandwell Community Law Centre, both of which offered legal advice and support to people in Birmingham and Sandwell on immigration, nationality and other issues. He was also a member of the Barrow Cadbury Fund Employment Panel.

The section also contains papers of organisations not directly associated with the Indian Workers Association including several black and Asian campaign and welfare groups, as well as various publications likely to have been collected by members of the Indian Workers Association, including a substantial number produced by Chinese and Indian Communist groups. It is possible that the Association collaborated with some of the campaign and welfare groups on campaigns, or that their contact was in an advisory capacity.