 Hello and welcome to Daily Debrief brought to you by People's Dispatch, I am Shriya. In today's episode, we talk about Honduras' announcement to open diplomatic relations with China, health workers in South Africa ending a week-long strike and finally 150 women's national team players right to FIFA demanding equal pay before the 2023 World Cup. Honduras' President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday announced plans to open diplomatic relations with China in a move that will leave behind the Central American nation's relationship with Taiwan. According to Honduran foreign minister Edouard Duenrique-Rena, the decision is largely based on economic interests of the country but it is not completely unexpected as moving closer to Beijing was a part of Castro's presidential campaign. We are now joined by Anish from People's Dispatch with more details on the story. Welcome back on the episode Anish. So major development this one and what led to Honduras making this decision and what led to it taking a different stance, changing its stance from Taiwan? Yeah, so in we have to talk about the domestic politics before we talk about the wider geopolitical implications. So in this case, the domestic politics has a lot to with how things panned out. You had the Honduran President Xiomara Castro having campaigned as part of her foreign policy promises to push for relations with China, which is the People's Republic of China and to cut off relations with Taiwan, which calls itself the Republic of China. So in this case, it is taking the same position that many countries around the world, almost all countries except for a dozen now, have taken in with respect to the one China policy and also a practical decision in many ways. But it has been held back primarily because of the kind of governments that they had for so long, which we have to remember in the geopolitical sense as we move on to like this is what many of the mainstream media calls the backyard of the United States. So the level of influence that US imperialism had in supporting a whole host of reactionary political groups, not just in Honduras, but across Central America and the whole of Latin America. We have seen many of them hold on to this very rigid sort of anti-communist position when it came to Taiwan and when it came to China and continued relations with Taiwan, even though it made very little difference or actually gave them no additional benefits whatsoever. So this whole point like the statement that the Foreign Minister made, which is that of this decision being primarily based on economic interest has a lot of merit to it. It's just that it took a political change, a massive political change. We have to remember Castro won with an emphatic majority last year, so not last year 2021 and she came to power last year and obviously the sea change in Honduran politics was what eventually led to this decision. Right and another question would be that what are likely to be the strategic implications of this decision for Honduras because US is a major trade partner. What are we expecting to follow now? Well, there will definitely be some displeasure on the part of the United States that already Taiwan is airing its discontentment on the matter and we can expect several right-wing groups within Honduras to also oppose the decision. But in the overall sense it is part of a sort of ideological battle because this is not the first time that Central American or Latin American country have changed positions when it came to what China they recognize. And if you take even the recent case of Nicaragua, which had cut off ties in 2021, if you see the history, it actually had a very brief period between 1985 and 1990 when it had relations with the PRC, with Beijing. But the only reason being that Ortega was the president then and after he lost the presidency, the right-wing government just promptly cut off one of the first things that they did for us to promptly cut off ties with China and resume relations with Taiwan. So this is also a part of the larger ideological battle that has been waged not only in Central America, we have now two countries left that still recognize Taiwan but also in the Pacific region where you have several nations still holding on to this vestige of Cold War post influenced by reactionary politics that was supported and still is supported by US imperialist powers. So in all of these cases obviously you have a larger ideological battle being waged, we have to wait and see how long this is going to be such but obviously this is a better step to the future because smaller countries like Honduras definitely need aid. Our countries that are in dire straits since the pandemic are ones that are going to be the worst affected because of the climate emergency that we are facing right now. So definitely looking for better economic prospects at the time when China is a major economic superpower and going for pragmatic positions no matter what ideological ground that you look for is the way to move forward and Taiwan is not going to offer them what China can as a larger economic powerhouse in that sense. So this is what we are looking at and what we can expect in the near future. Thank you so much for joining us Anish. Strike action by the workers of the national education health and allied workers union was concluded this week after the government in South Africa agreed to review the salary demands made by the workers. The strike was launched on March 6 following repeated refusals by the government to seriously approach negotiations regarding health workers salaries and through that the overall state of the health system. The health workers strike is a significant step in collective bargaining for the sector as current labor legislation in South Africa makes it illegal for health workers to engage in industrial action which disrupts essential services putting into question health workers right to engage in strike like all other workers. Anna from People's Health Movement now joins us with the latest details on this story. Thanks for joining us Anna. So what led to this strike and it's been going over for at least a week and more than that there are some considerable gains that the strike has achieved as is reflected in the agreement. Can you also tell us that? Yes. So essentially what happened was that one of the trade unions in South Africa which organizes public sector workers in education in health and the similar services the national education health and allied workers union it held a 10-day strike over some prolonged disputes over salaries and the government's unwillingness to negotiate a salary rise for this year and then for the next one. So what happened was that the union wanted the government to reopen the discussion about this year's salary citing inflation and higher costs of living as reasons that the workers were not able to make sense meet on what's agreed before and that it definitely required more substantive negotiations. So the government was not willing to do that for a very long time and this is something that's also reflective of how the government has approached negotiations and dialogue with trade unions since 2020 or even before. It's not been a very friendly relationship let's put it that way so they've been very reluctant to do it. The labor legislation that has been passed is somewhat limiting of trade union activities in South Africa and so these were all like a list of things that led the union to take the step and initiate the strike. What should also be mentioned is that the health workers were talking about how austerity measures were impacting the health system and their working conditions for a very long time so essentially it's been you know they have very low salaries which are not keeping keeping up with what the actual prices are. The whole health system is under strain because of austerity measures so it wasn't it wasn't only framed as a strike for for their own rights but also in a wider sense for for the for the health system and so just you know to wrap up a bit about the strike itself it it was it was ended later yesterday it was it was actually announced that it that there was an agreement which was reached which the union found more more acceptable that what was earlier on the table and so the health services are expected to resume and to pick up over the next couple of days and finally of course you know they the the strike got a lot of solidarity statements from around the world not only from from the from the rest of the trade union movement in South Africa we have seen public services international supporting the action taken by the workers and this is unsurprising in a way knowing that PSI is so committed to you know better funding for public public services and supporting the role that health workers play in in delivering those services to the people. Right and the strike was concluded after following some court orders about and once agreement was reached what was that about? So essentially the strike while it was supported by quite a wide you know base of people it also has some contested parts so essentially and this again has a lot to do with the labor legislation that they mentioned before it caused widespread disruptions to health care services so it's because there was no minimum agreed with the government it ended up with people literally having no access to to essential services like emergency like maternity maternity care and so on so this was one of the contested parts and that essentially led to the situation where the government deployed military medical staff to to staff the hospitals the health institutions that were covered by the strike and then of course you know the pickets got quite quite dynamic and there were also reports of rubber bullets being fired at picketters at strikers and it was an overall quite quite yes quite a complicated picture of the strike because as we know you know health workers have every right to take strike action as any other worker but the government and the employers usually use this as an excuse to say that health workers are irresponsible that they are not mindful of their patient's lives or their well-being and these kind of situations that arise which include violence and lack of access to essential services actually play to to that narrative so what we have seen in in this case of the latest strike in South Africa is that you know people's organizations like the People's Health Movement South Africa was very clear in supporting the right to strike for health workers and of course PHM South Africa is very clear about the strikes and the disruptive actions taken by health workers actually lead to a better health system for all if that is clearly stated in in the trade union and in the strike demands and if it it is upheld during the the action the action itself so that's that's one part that's still still going to be analyzed a bit in the future so to see essentially what happened what was the government's narrative and what was actually what could have actually been organized better to uh to deliver essential health care services at all times thank you so much for joining us Anna on this very important issue thanks the global professional soccer players union has sent a letter signed by 150 women's national team players to FIFA calling for equal distribution of the world cup prize money this comes a few months before the 2023 women's world cup that is set to begin in Australia and New Zealand the movement for parity in pay has been gathering momentum for some time now and in May 2022 a milestone was reached when the US soccer federation agreed to pay both its men's and women's team equally Sidhanth Ani joins us now with more details on this issue welcome to this episode Sidhanth the tournament is around the corner it's set to start in a few months but a lot of players from across the national teams they are set against not playing this tournament if their demands are not met uh why so uh thanks Shriya for having me it's good to swap places with you from yesterday's show um yeah the world the tournament that you're referring to of course is the FIFA women's world cup 2023 which is being held in Australia and New Zealand set to begin in July in just a few months from now and not just some players Shriya but uh actually a large number of some of the best players in the world are likely to miss out on what would otherwise be the highlight of any player's career something that you sort of dream about playing at a at a world cup representing your country and playing against the best players and with the best players uh in the world uh and unfortunately some of these amazingly talented footballers will be forced if their respective federations don't get in line to give the tournament a miss not because uh they want to but because they are actually now at a stage where they are fighting for the bigger picture and the bigger picture is essentially one that has been fought by I suppose generations of women for decades which is equal pay for equal work you know so if you look at football as an industry and the jobs that these professional athletes do this is how they earn their livelihood and uh what they seek in return is of course a decent living wage and secondly conditions in which they can perform to their best potential that's essentially all that they are looking for and unfortunately it's 2023 and we are still at a stage where that fight takes up so much time and energy for these women footballers that it often detracts from their ability to concentrate on what they want to do which is play football uh reach as wide an audience as possible of course in that process inspire young people to also inculcate develop a love of not just the sport but the idea of playing a team sport and functioning as a collective and being part of a club and all of the other things that go with with football that make it that give it the kind of universal global popularity that the sport has on the one hand we are seeing organizations like FIFA which runs the sport at a global level talk consistently about how the World Cup which is their tournament their flagship event how it's doing better year on year on year television numbers are sponsorship revenues are up the tournament is now developing into one that can potentially be a money spinner just like the FIFA men's World Cup is for the organization and then then as they are structured they are still very much based on the idea of trickle down economics so so then that then gives you the wherewithal to engage in other programs and use some of that money and put it towards building things at the grassroots level we're not getting into a discussion about how things are structured we're talking only specifically about what's happening with the women and following the United States is quite successful collective bargaining process negotiation agreement which also took by the way many many years and a protracted legal battle to happen but finally it took the men's players union and the women's players union coming together right and to say that okay whatever amount we collectively generate we will share equally between the men's national team and the women's national team now this is essentially the same kind of contract or argument that all teams are now asking for and rightly so you know is countries like Canada Spain and France in this case who are all major I guess players at the women's football world stage so all of them have extremely talented players some of the best players in the world Leon in France is one of the biggest clubs for women Barcelona in Spain is another one these are clubs that regularly are the best football clubs in the world they also have the biggest budgets and some of the best players in the world so if at this level also there is still a struggle for basics like you know playing time trading conditions regular tournaments and of course then equal pay for the kind of work that they're doing it takes a lot away from from the point of it which is which is to go out and play football which is what these players are and their representatives and the FIFA fifth pro which is the the world professional players union they are all arguing for that you know you have to set the basics in place before you can then expect this sport to become something that generates viewership and significant interest outside of those who are directly involved in it thank you so much for joining us Siddhans and that's all we have for today for more such stories keep following peoplesdispatch.org you can also follow us on facebook instagram and twitter