 Why has the management of South African air base gone back on an offer it made to striking workers? Why are the social movements of Chile unhappy with an agreement for a new constitution? Why are journalists in Palestine and across the world rising up in solidarity with their comrades? In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes by People's Dispatch, we will look at these protests and movements which represent the struggle of people against oppression and for building a better world. In South Africa, the management continues to refuse to listen to the workers of South African airways who are on a strike. The unions representing the workers and the management held talks beginning Tuesday evening and while the management initially presented an offer, they later withdrew it. The workers are now likely to escalate the strike that began on November 15th. Workers of the catering subsidiary of the airways, air chefs, are also set to join the strike. Over 3000 employees are already taking part in the action, led by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, NUMSA, and the South African Cabin Crew Association, SACCA. The workers are demanding a salary hike and the insourcing of all staff including those involved in security, cleaning, IT, ground handling, logistics etc. The workers had initially sought a salary hike of 8% but they were willing to accept a management offer of 6.5%. They were even willing to accept an offer of a team to study insourcing although according to them it is a far simpler process. However, the management suddenly backtracked saying that they did not have the mandate to establish this team or the money for the hike. They went back to an earlier 5.9% hike offer. This has left the workers furious as they demanded measures that could actually save the airline. Let us look at some of the key demands. The government first of all said that it did not have the money to accept the 8% salary hike. The hike demanded by workers would have cost the company 100 million rand annually. But each day of the strike cost over 52 million rand. So the government would rather bleed the airline than accept the much more economical and reasonable demands of the workers. The other key aspect has to do with insourcing. The unions have pointed out that this will substantially reduce the cost of operations. This is because the private companies to which the contracts have been given to have massively inflated the bills. If this money were to be saved, the company would benefit immensely. But the management response has been to retrench over 900 employees. The unions even have an example to show. Recently, SAA technical, one of the airline subsidiaries, cancelled KWE's contract of rand 22 million per annum for warehousing. After insourcing the workers, the company has been saving around 11 million rand a year. Similarly, Ernst & Young has already prepared forensic reports which outline in detail the major contracts that must be revised because of their impact on the airline's balance sheet. Despite this, the company has refused to take concrete steps. The outsourcing services cover areas such as aircraft cleaning, ground handling, security, maintenance, baggage handling, passenger aid services, and ramp, busing, and document verification. SAA's problem is not labour. Noomsa spokesman, Fakamele Hulubi Majola, told People's Dispatch, even if every worker in SAA is fired, the airline will still collapse. Its biggest cost driver is the 25 billion per year rand spent on procurements, which has been exposed in various forensic reports to be corrupt, she added. For the workers and the unions, the airline and the government are in the process of bankrupting what could be a profitable operation. Their struggle to save both their airline and their jobs will continue in the coming days. It's been over a month since the people of Chile began a historic struggle against the austerity measures and the anti-people policies of President Sebastian Piniera. What began as a protest over increased train fares has now transformed into a larger call for systemic change, a new constitution, as well as the immediate resignation of Piniera and an end to anti-people policies. This has been an epic struggle as far as the people of Chile are concerned. It's important to remember that they are fighting a model that has been entrenched for nearly 30 years since the fall of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. On November 18th, on the occasion of the first month of the protests, hundreds of thousands of citizens, students, workers, and members of several social movements took to the streets. The epicenter of the protests was the capital city of Santiago, where protests were called for by the social unity board. This board brings together over 200 social movements, student organizations, and trade unions. Tens of thousands gathered at the iconic dignity plaza, formerly known as the Plaza Italia, to condemn the government and support the demands. For the past month, the police or the carabineros have used extreme force and this time was no different as they fired on protesters with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber pennants. Over the past one month, there has been unprecedented levels of repression and harassment. Over 25 people have been killed, 6,362 people have been arrested, and more than 2,391 people have been injured and around 365 have been threatened, tortured, or sexually harassed. Thousands of cases of illegal detentions, torture, abuse, rapes, sexual attacks, violation of the right to information and dissemination, political persecution, criminalization of social protests, among others, have been reported in the country and have been condemned nationally and internationally. So, what is the focus of the current round of protests? A key demand of the protesters from the very beginning was a new constitution. On November 14th, the ruling party and the opposition reached an agreement on this, whereby they said that a plebiscite for a new constitution would be held in April 2020. Now, this referendum will pose two questions, whether a new constitution is needed and whether it should be drafted by a mixed constituent convention or just a constituent convention. What do these terms mean? In the mixed constituent convention, 50 percent of the members will be parliamentarians, while the remaining will be those specifically elected for this purpose. In the case of a regular constituent convention, all the members will be specifically elected for this purpose. If one of these conventions is approved in the referendum, it will draft a constitution which will be placed before the people again. Now, the catch here is that two-thirds of the members of this convention have to approve any draft constitution. Key organizations which have been in the forefront of the protests in Chile have rejected this agreement. They have pointed out a number of flaws. First of all, this agreement does not even guarantee the creation of a new constitution. Secondly, a number of important parties and social movements were kept out of the discussions that led to this agreement. This include the Communist Party of Chile, PCC, which condemned the fact that the negotiations were held in secret by a small set of people. Both the Communist Party and the Social Unity Board criticized the two-thirds majority clause. The president of the PCC noted that if the right-wing got over a third of the constituents, it would affect the possibility of bringing about far-reaching change in Chile. The Social Unity Board rejected a discrimination against those under the age of 18, the absence of mechanisms for plurinational participation and gender parity. They also condemned the mechanisms which enabled the election of officials from those parties which caused the crisis in the first place. Palestine is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. According to the Palestinian journalist syndicate, over 606 members of their profession have been attacked as of October with 60 being targeted with live ammunition this year alone. During the Great March of Return protests, Israeli snipers have targeted journalists despite their wearing press tags and jackets. On November 15th, a Palestinian photojournalist, Muath Amarnay, was shot in the eye with a metallic bullet while he was covering a protest in the West Bank. He lost his vision in his left eye as a result. The attack happened despite the fact that he was wearing a jacket which had press written in big bold letters in the front. But then, respect for such norms has never been the way of the Israeli security forces. In the aftermath of the attack, a global campaign was launched in solidarity with Muath both in Palestine and across the world. Activists held protests, their left eyes covered to expose the brutality of the Israeli forces. An international campaign online focused on the same issue. In the occupied Palestinian territories, protests were held in solidarity with Armanay and they were brutally attacked by Israeli forces. Three students were arrested at a sit-in organized outside the Hebrew University in occupied Jerusalem. At another sit-in organized by the students of the Palestinian Technical University in Tulkarem, a student was seriously injured when she was struck by a tear gas canister. Two others were injured by live ammunition. According to local sources, the student who was hit with a canister suffered serious burn injuries in addition to a fractured jaw and several broken teeth. Dozens of others experienced suffocation as a result of inhaling tear gas and were treated by paramedics on the spot. In Bethlehem, journalists at the protest were also attacked by Israeli security forces with tear gas canisters resulting in many of them experiencing suffocation. Two of them were detained. Despite the unending repression unleashed by Israeli forces, the journalists, students and people of Palestine continue to resist. Their struggle against occupation and apartheid will continue until the walls built by the force of oppression crumble and freedom is achieved. That's all we have for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. To know more about these stories, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for watching.