Jayaben Desai (2 April 1933 – 23 December 2010) was an Indian-born trade unionist in the United Kingdom.

[1] Born in Dharmaj, Gujarat, India, Desai moved to Tanzania, East Africa, in 1956.

[5][2] The prime minister Jim Callaghan appointed a judge, Lord Justice Scarman to settle the dispute.

[…] tears were in my eyes to see these people […] they were hurting themselves and the police were charging them with horses and everything and still they were standing strong."

Her family scattered her ashes near the sources of the Indus and Ganges rivers and in Rotherhithe on the Thames.

[2] On 14 December 2016 she was named as one of seven women chosen by BBC Radio Four's Woman's Hour for their 2016 Power List, which was topped by Margaret Thatcher and also included Helen Brook, Barbara Castle, Germaine Greer, Bridget Jones and Beyoncé.