 Life has ground to a halt in many parts of the world for millions of people due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Work from home has become a new normal for many of us as we question many of the rules that make up the workplace otherwise. But what about those who cannot work from home? Those who may not even have a job by the time this crisis subsides. What about those who are forced to struggle against the corrosive corporate world even during these times? In this episode of around the world in 8 minutes, we will be looking at some such stories. The impact of this global lockdown is likely to be catastrophic. The International Labour Organization says that a rise in unemployment could be anywhere between 5.3 million and 24.7 million, a number which is similar to UN estimates. As of March 10th, approximately 30,000 work months had been lost. This impact is being felt in almost every country. In the US for instance, around 710,000 jobs were lost in early March. Over the past two weeks, nearly 10 million people filed claims for unemployment support. Black and Hispanic workers have been the most severely affected during the crisis, as have been younger workers in precarious jobs. In India, the confederation of Indian industries says that over 50% of the tourism and hospitality industry may be badly hit with about 20 million losing their jobs if the industry does not recover by October. Surveys have reported that the coronavirus outbreak has put about 136 million non-agricultural jobs at risk. Casual labourers, daily wage earners, people employed by non-registered nano-businesses and others who work without any formal contracts are the most likely to be rendered jobless. In these circumstances, capitalists chose to respond in familiar ways. On the one hand, its leaders have been tom-tomming their philanthropy as if they are doing a service to the world in sharing the tiniest morsel of their wealth. On the other hand, they have been targeted attacks at labour, retrenchments, cost-cutting and salary reduction while not providing the necessary safety equipment. This has forced workers in many countries to stage protests and to go on virtual or even real-time strikes despite the risk to their health and their lives. The US for instance has seen a number of worker strikes over the past week. On March 31st, delivery and warehousing workers of the Whole Foods Market chain went on strike across the country. The workers termed it a sick-out, as they called in sick, to protest the inadequate protection provided by the company. Delivery and warehousing workers in the US have been consistently demanding better and stronger policies including hazard pay. Similarly, thousands of Instacart workers organised by the Gig Workers Collective struck work across the country on March 30th Monday. These workers are demanding wage hikes and also that companies review their leave policies, safety guidelines and sanitation measures. This is especially important at a time when delivery and warehousing workers are providing essential services. March 30th also saw dozens of workers walk out of Amazon's Staten Island delivery station in New York. The warehouse management responded by firing the organiser of the poor protest, Chris Malls, for violating social distancing guidelines. The Staten Island protest of Amazon workers came in response to 10 positive cases of COVID-19 found among the employees. Workers have been demanding that the warehouse be temporarily shut down and that the company review its safety guidelines to better protect those working there. We came out here to make a cry for help. We need the government to step in, close this building down. There's too many coronavirus cases. They're not telling the employees. They're not taking care of us. We're not safe. We got a lot of people that's home right now unpaid and it's not right. It's not fair to us. It's not fair. So we're here making a statement. We had a successful walk out. You know, we got the message out. We got people aware. That's what we're here for. In a statement released by Athena that represents workers who are disputing the company's policies, Amazon workers have alleged that unsanitary conditions and extremely lax implementation of social distancing measures are prevalent in the Staten Island warehouse. On April 3rd, media reports emerged that Amazon executives were planning to run a campaign against Chris Mall, the organiser of the protest. An internal memo described him as not articulate or smart and laid out a strategy to smear him. The world may be suffering, but for big business, it's clearly business as usual. We go to South Africa next, where the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, NUMSA, has alleged that the Golden Arrows Bus Services Company is forcing its employees to work in public despite the 21-day lockdown that has been imposed in their countries since March 27th. Golden Arrows is a 150-year-old passenger service company. It is the single largest passenger operator accredited under the government-recognised road transport management system. It is a fleet of over 1,000 buses, serving 1,300 routes in metropolitan Cape Town. NUMSA Regional Secretary for Western Cape, Uyolufele, said that on March 29th Sunday, the company had asked one set of workers to continue. The company claims that it has been authorised by the government to provide essential services. However, NUMSA said that it is not a company that provides essential services and has misled the government on discount. Golden Arrows may have a vested interest in declaring itself an emergency service. It can thus deny workers their right to go on strike. A similar attempt in 2018 was defeated by unions in the passenger bus sector. This time to NUMSA alleges, the company is using the crisis to claim the status of an emergency service. The company is also reportedly threatening workers who refuse to go on duty with disciplined reaction. This is despite the fact that labour law explicitly states that workers can refuse certain duties if they feel it endangers their lives. The union has urged the workers to ignore the company's dictates. The company in turn has threatened legal action against NUMSA. Across the world such instances continue to be reported. On March 31st, hundreds of construction workers and street vendors took to the streets of Columbia's capital Bogota to protest the lack of food and other essential services. The majority of these workers are day labourers and have become unemployed because of the lockdown. They did not have enough money to feed their families and pay for their rent and other public services. As a result, they were forced to go out and ask for help either with food or money. This measure of protest was called for by the Construction Workers Union of SUBA. The workers blocked roads and although the protest was peaceful, the Bogota Police and the notorious Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron or ESMAD were deployed against them. In Sri Lanka, intervention by unions saw relief for thousands of migrant workers who were stranded in boarding houses where they had been abandoned in 14 free trade zones. The stranded workers were living in congested rooms in boarding houses for days without proper food arrangement and no wages. The free trade zone and general services employees union intervened and wrote to the authorities to supply food durations in such boarding houses. In a letter to the ministry labour, the union also demanded the company pay the workers wages. Simultaneously, the Women's Centre launched a program to provide food in the free trade zones. Union representatives distributed food parcels in the boarding houses which also accommodate daily wage workers employed through contact agencies. The union has complained that the conditions in the boarding houses used by the workers are not conducive to social distancing and fall short of many requirements necessary as COVID-19 containment measures. That's all we have in this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. To know more about these stories, visit our website PeopleStyleSpire.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Thanks for watching.