 Hello and welcome to Around the World in 8 Minutes, a show by People's Dispatch. In this show, we bring you stories from the frontlines of struggle against capitalist exploitation. In today's episode, we'll begin by looking at the ongoing strike by the teachers and support staff of Chicago for an equitable education system. We then move to Argentina where medical professionals went on a strike demanding the payment of salaries and we conclude with the struggle by workers in Spain regarding the protection of their jobs. Over the past year, we have seen a wave of strikes and protests by teachers and support staff across the United States. In state after state, teachers have risen in anger, frustrated over poor pay and dismal facilities at schools. In 2012, a massive strike was held in Chicago over many of these issues. This strike is believed to have inaugurated a new era of organizing by teachers. Last week, the teachers and support staff of Chicago went on strike again demanding an overhaul of the education system. The strike has now entered its second week. On October 23rd, between 20,000 and 30,000 teachers marched to the city hall while Mayor Lori Lightfoot was presenting her maiden budget, where she made the usual austerity filled speech. For union representatives, this demonstrated an unwillingness to listen to their demands and they have indicated that they will intensify the strike. The strike is being organized by the Chicago Teachers Union, the CTU, along with the Chicago chapter of the Service Employees International Union, SEIU or Local 73. Over 25,000 teachers and close to 8,000 support staff are taking part. The strike has led to the shutting down of classes in more than 600 schools that cater to nearly 350,000 students. The teachers have called for the infusion of nearly US$1 billion into the education system. In recent negotiations, the Chicago Public Schools which is the administering authority has made some concessions. These include a 16% wage hike for teachers, bringing down co-pays in medical insurances and a moratorium on privately run schools or charter schools. The city also offered a 5-year plan to invest $500 million which was deemed insufficient. However, the city has made little commitments on important demands. These include a wage hike for support staff and their formalization, bringing down cloud sizes, increasing the number of full-time support staff like nurses and counsellors, and expanding resources in schools such as libraries and health centres. Mayor Lightfoot has argued that the CPS does not have the money to deliver on these demands. In her speech, she focused on bridging the fiscal gap, making it clear that no investments would be possible soon. Union representatives pointed out that Lightfoot's comments came even as the CPS had a record TIF surplus. The TIF is the tax increment financing which allows school districts to raise funds. However, instead of using the $163 million surplus on the school, the mayor plans to use it to bridge the city's deficit. After the city administration refused to engage with the teachers and support staff properly, CTU and Local 73 released a statement which promised that negotiators will not waste their time trying to talk to a brick wall. Instead, they will head back to the picket lines and build the kind of solidarity that has already led to progress towards a fair contract. The statement involved. We now move to Argentina where hundreds of young healthcare professionals in the public sector hospitals began a 48-hour strike on October 23rd. These first-year residents are demanding an immediate payment to salaries which they have not received since June. Their other demands include a compliance of the laws and regulations governing the residents and an increase in salaries as their current pay is below the poverty line pay due to rampant inflation and devaluation of the national currency. They also want negotiations to discuss salary hikes and the application of work risk insurance to all the residents. This is the third strike by residents of national hospitals this month. The first strike took place on October 2nd and hundreds of doctors marched to the Ministry of Health. At the ministry, they were received by government authorities who assured them they would pay all the amount, the whole amount, in two parts by October 10th. The authorities also guaranteed that they would provide access to the ART by October 11th, pay the rest of the dues in the month of November and establish a negotiation table to discuss salary hikes. The deadlines came and went but no promises were fulfilled. The residents carried out another strike on October 16th. When they marched this time, the government delegation which met them refused to take any responsibility for what was happening and refused to sign any written commitment and just blame the state bureaucracy. It was then that the young doctors decided to call for another strike this time for 48 hours. The workers from the Civil and Trade Union Association of Professionals and the technicians of Garahan Hospital also joined the strike. In addition, hundreds of doctors and other healthcare workers associated with the Trade Union Association of Healthcare Professionals of Buenos Aires Province went on a 24-hour strike on the same day. Due to the strike, over 80 public hospitals and health centers in Buenos Aires Province remained closed or provided only emergency services. The unions also denounced the lack of investment in the sector by the right-wing government of Buenos Aires led by Maria Eugenia Vidal and its unwillingness to resolve the crisis. In the last four years of its governance, the government of Mauricio Macri has implemented neoliberal economic measures which have reduced investment in a number of public sector health services. Healthcare workers have noted that the budgetary cuts have had a direct impact on the health of the population and have seen an increase in cases of tuberculosis and syphilis in the country. The presidential elections in Argentina are scheduled for October 27th. Broad sectors of the Argentine society have been mobilizing against Macri's austerity measures which have had a catastrophic impact on Argentina's working class and the poor. In our last story, on October 23rd, the industrial workers and energy sector workers in Galicia in Spain protested in front of the Spanish authorities at Acoruna, demanding an energy pact for industries and a protection of jobs for workers. This is in the backdrop of the government policy of energy transition in the country. This energy transition policy pursued by the Spanish government will close down coal mines in the country in order to address environmental concerns. The workers in the coal mines and related industries like thermal power plants are concerned about the future of their jobs. There are also a number of jobs in heavy industries that depend on the energy sector. On Wednesday, workers in unions from a number of plants rallied at Acoruna. The call for the demonstration was given by the workers commission, CCOO. CCOO Secretary General of the Industry for Galicia, Victor Ledo, demanded that the regional and central governments establish a state pact for energy and the industry along with short-term plants for the thermal plants which are going to be closed. Ledo said that the situation of the industry in Galicia was serious both because of labour reform as well as a high price of energy and the lack of a thought out industrial policy. He expressed the concern that the region would become an industrial desert and sought concrete commitments instead of vague promises. The regional government in Galicia has also appealed to the Spanish government to address the concerns on energy, industries and jobs. The transition to a climate neutral economy will have a massive impact on all sectors and their workforce and hence trade unions in Spain have demanded a new social contract to engage workers in this transition and push it forward instead of holding it back. That's all we have in this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. To read more about these stories, visit our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for watching.