 Hello and welcome to People's Dispatch. I am Prashant and you're 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 the South Indian city of Chennai, where nearly 200 permanent employees of the Japanese MNC Asahi, which produces windshields and window glass panes, are on strike against unlawful dismissal and suspension of employees. They are also demanding fair wages. The strike began on March 25th. Following the pattern of recent strikes in other automotive companies, about 200 permanent workers in the company are on strike. 800 contract workers and 200 trainees are also employed by the company. The striking workers are long-term employees who had joined the company between 2004 and 2007. They are part of the union that is affiliated to the Centre of Indian Trade Union, CITU. We talk to S. Kannan of the CITU in Chennai for more details about the strike. Asahi India Glass Limited is located in the Sipkot complex in Kanchipuram district. This is a factory owned by Indian capitalists. The company has been running for 11 years. It manufactures mirrors and other parts for automobile companies such as Hyundai, Nissan, Ford, Daimler, Volkswagen, Toyota and mine. The company only has approximately 230 permanent employees, while the rest are on contract or trainees. The working conditions are quite difficult and the workload is very heavy. The health of many of these workers has also been affected due to the jobs. Even those employees who have been working here for long did not get the same salaries as workers and other companies. Instead, the company is initiating disciplinary action against these workers. The workers have conducted a number of protests against the employers due to these reasons. For organising these protests, 28 employees were dismissed illegally. Similarly, citing various reasons, 30 employees have been suspended. Show cause notices have been issued to at least 100 employees who are under enquiry. Thus, of the 239 employees, around 130 to 140 are facing various kinds of disciplinary action. This is unprecedented in India. It is against this that the workers' strike is being held. Today is the 11th day of the strike. The strike began after two rounds of negotiations failed. In both these rounds, the management remained adamant and refused to concede to the workers' demands. From the union's side, we have declared that the dismissions, suspensions and disciplinary action are unjust and illegal. We have demanded discussions for a VHK. We are very clear that our fight is for rights and justice. If our demands are not met, if we are forced to continue our strike, we will resort to other forms of protest. Because it is the election season, the central and state governments, including the Labour Department, have not sufficiently intervened. So, we are continuing our strike, demanding that the Labour Department intervene in this issue. From the union's side, we have declared that the dismissals, suspensions and disciplinary action are unjust and illegal. We have demanded discussions for a VHK. We are very clear that our fight is for rights and justice. If we are forced to continue our strike, we will resort to other forms of protest. We have declared that the dismissals and disciplinary action are unjust and illegal. In the time of dismissals, the central and state governments have not sufficiently intervened. Because the dismissals are unjust and illegal. We are continuing our strike, demanding that the dismissals and disciplinary action are unjust and illegal. This is done by the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union and the Public Servants Association of South Africa, after which the South African Revenue Service offered an 8% wage hike this year and a 2% annual hike for the next two years. The employees went on strike on March 28th, following a deadlock invasion negotiations. The negotiations, mainly over the salary hike, have been ongoing since November last year. The two unions, which represent over 9,000 employees of SARS, have been demanding a 11.4% increase in the salaries of all employees, while the employer was willing to concede an increase of only 7%. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, which stepped in for the mediation in between the two, tabled a compromise of an 8% increase for this year, followed by an additional 1% increase over the next two years. While the employer agreed to this offer, the unions were unwilling to commit for a multi-term agreement that would lock their bargaining power for three years. Their demand was a one-term hike of 11.4%, followed by fresh negotiations for 2020. The offer of 8% hike for one term was placed before the workers, who also rejected it. When the negotiations just hit a deadlock on March 27th, the unions gave a call for the strike. In a bid to reduce the effectiveness with which the industrial action could be organised, SARS got the labour code to pass an order banning picketing at all but two branches. However, as it turned out, picketing was not necessary. 33 branches across the country were shut. Hundreds of striking workers assembled outside SARS offices in the city of Durban, demanding that their employer meet their demands. As the strike action continued over the next days, the newly appointed SARS Commissioner, Edward Kisevich, stepped in to resolve the dispute. Negotiations were held behind closed doors on Friday and Sunday between SARS and the unions. By the end of the meeting, a new offer was made by SARS. According to a statement by PSA, this offer would include, as in the previous one, an 8% wage hike for one year starting from April 1st. The 1% annual hike that was offered for the next two years in the previous offer was raised to 2% in the new offer. The employer also agreed that the long-service award amount would increase at the same rate as the wages. Further, an 8-day prenatal and vaccination leave and another 10 days of leave for family responsibility has also been offered. In our last story, we take you to Turkey, where the Communist Party of Turkey's Fateh Mehmet Machaloo emerged victorious as the mayor of the city of Tuncini. Meanwhile, the people's alliance led by President Recep Erdogan lost power in key metros, including Ankara and Istanbul. The opposition alliance has also won Turkey's third largest city of Izmir, with 52% of the vote. Fateh Mehmet Machaloo thus became the first communist mayor of a town in Turkey's history. Elections were held for 30 metropolitan cities and for the positions of 1,318 district municipal mayors, 1,251 provisional councillors, and 20,500 municipal councillors. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party contested the elections by forming the people's alliance. In the opposition, the Republican People's Party CHP and the IYI party forged the national alliance. Even though the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party HDP didn't enter any coalition, they did not field candidates in opposition strongholds. Fateh Mehmet Machaloo emerged victorious by governing 32.23% of the vote. Machaloo is the former mayor of the Ovacic district in Tuncini. He was the first communist to hold such a position in 2014-2. These elections were closely watched as they were the first after Erdogan instituted the presidential form of government through a constitutional referendum in 2017. The significant gains made by the opposition coalition will have a far-reaching impact on the country that has been reeling under the authoritarian regime of Erdogan and the large-scale economic crisis characterized by the steady decline of the value of the Turkish lira. That's all for this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes. For more stories and videos about people's movements, please check our website peoplesdispatch.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.