 Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. I am Suranga and you are watching Around the World in 8 Minutes where we bring you news from working class and popular movements across the globe. In our first story we take you to Belgium where hundreds of thousands of workers embarked on a nationwide strike on February 13th. Three major trade unions representing around 4 million workers staged this strike demanding improvements in pay and working conditions. The strike saw the participation of workers from government offices, schools, industries and the transport and aviation sectors. The workers raised several demands including a meaningful wage increase for all employees and increase in the minimum wage to 40 euros gross per hour or 2300 euros gross per month, reforms in the existing wage law, lower work pressure and workable work, permanent contracts of indefinite duration and a better work-life balance. According to reports as per the current law implemented on June 1, 2016, the Belgium minimum wage levels range from around 1530 to 1590 euros per month depending on age and experience. The unions said the government had put in place a 0.8% cap on hikes and minimum wages for the two years since the law was implemented in 2016. The Socialist Trade Union, General Federation of Belgian Labour said that the Michael government is partly responsible for rewriting the wage bill and putting it into too tight a straight jacket. There was a wage margin of 1.8% but because of the intervention of the government and the new law, we had to do with a meager 0.8%. The General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium said that in recent years the press has commented extensively on the health of the economy, the extent of job creation, the shortage of manpower. At the same time, employers' social security contributions had been reduced. Business taxes have been reduced for all companies and public services, business taxes have been reduced for all companies and public services and social security have been reduced. The Workers' Party of Belgium expressed its solidarity with the workers' strike. In our next story, we take you to the Caribbean nation of Haiti, where protests continue against rising inflation and job losses. More than nine people were killed as police launched brutal crackdown on the demonstrations. Frustrated over increasing loss of purchasing power and miscovenants, thousands of Haitians, members of various grassroots organizations and political leaders mobilized across the country to protest against widespread inflation and to demand the resignation of President Hovenin Moyes. The series of mobilizations began on February 7th, where thousands of people hid the streets throughout the capital Port-au-Prince and other major cities of the country. The four days of agitation saw angry protesters block the roads and set several vehicles on fire in the capital city. On Saturday, February 9th, they gathered outside the residence of the president with a few of them throwing stones at the building. Anti-government unrest resulted in brutal police crackdown, which took the lives of three protesters and left dozens injured. Various violent confrontations between the police and demonstrators took place. Police officials used tear gas and fired several rounds of bullets in the air to disperse the crowd. The dire social and economic conditions in Haiti are a central motivating factor bringing people to the streets. Currently, Haiti is going through a major economic crisis with an accelerated devaluation of the national currency and around 15% inflation since Moyes' assumed office. For many in Haiti, their salaries are not sufficient to buy basic necessities. Protesters on the street also denounced the position of the Moyes' government towards Venezuela, which along with the U.S. and other conservative Latin American countries recognize the illegitimate self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido. Dozens of Haitian organizations released a statement wherein they declared the support to Nicolas Maduro and condemned the attempted coup in Venezuela. In the first week of February, the Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes issued an audit report on the mismanagement and embezzlement of $3.8 billion of Petro-Carrie funds offered to Haiti by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through a crude oil program to finance its economic and social development. According to the report, over 15 ministers and senior officials of the former President Michael Martelli's administration and a company then run by the current President, Huvindel Moyes benefited from the funds directed to public programs. None of them have been prosecuted. Last year, on October 17th and November 18th, massive anti-corruption protests were held across the country demanding President's resignation, a proper investigation into the embezzlement of Petro-Carrie funds and judicial proceedings against all those responsible. Earlier in July, after the government announced massive increases in fuel prices, Haitians helped several days of protests and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Jacques-Guy Lafonta and President Huvindel Moyes. Lafonta stepped down, but Moyes has refused to do so. In the last story for this episode, we report on the issue of termination of more than 11,600 government workers in Bangladesh for participating in protests demanding higher wages. This is in addition to thousands of workers who were fired towards the end of January for the same reason. Employers and the police have filed cases against over 3,000 unidentified workers, about 70 of whom were arrested. The Industrial Bangladesh Council, which is the national coordinating body of the affiliates of the Industrial Global Union, said the terminated employees used to work for outdated, supplying international firms such as H&M, Mango, Nex, Matalan, Puma, E-Spirit, Walmart, and Stanley Stella. According to local reports, the companies have forced many senior employees to resign, presumably to avoid paying higher wages and social security benefits. Thousands of workers had hit the streets of Dhaka and other cities for several days in Medjana, very demanding that this monthly salary be doubled from 8,000 Dhaka to 16,000 Dhaka, which is around $191 per month. The authorities, however, responded with the use of force that left over 50 workers injured and one dead. Many workers also said they were physically threatened by unidentified persons who asked them to stop demanding higher wages. Workers say finding a new job is a challenge as the companies are tracking the antecedents using biometric data, which is linked to employment records, with the aim of identifying whether they participated in protests or had any links to trade unions. Earlier on January 29th, over 5,000 government sector employees were sacked for taking part in the protests for a hike in minimum wages. That's all for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. For more stories and videos, please check our website, peoplesdispatch.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.