美国国家公共电台 NPR--In addition to the rail strike, Britain braces for strikes in other industries

In addition to the rail strike, Britain braces¹ for strikes in other industries

Transcript²

Rail workers in England, Wales and Scotland are on strike — demanding more pay and protesting planned job cuts. It's just one of many strikes Britain is likely to experience this summer.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

For much of this week, train travel has been impossible in parts of Britain. Rail workers in England, Wales and Scotland have gone on strike. They oppose plans to cut jobs and favor better pay. This is one of many strikes the country may face this summer. Willem Marx reports.

WILLEM MARX: Alastair Webster planned his summer vacation for months. He hoped to travel to the picturesque³ Cotswolds region yesterday by train. But in the end, he got stuck on several buses.

ALASTAIR WEBSTER: Doesn't seem to be a direct bus service from Oxford⁴ to there because we would have got the train. So I think we have to just sort of improvise⁵.

MARX: Despite the inconvenience and added cost, Webster says he supports the rail strikes.

WEBSTER: If you're working in these sectors⁷ and if you're a railway worker, you just get year after year of shrinking pay, really, in real terms.

MARX: He and his wife are among the millions employed by the government or government-supported industries like the railway, watching their real-world salaries shrink. U.K. inflation is at its highest level in decades, forcing living costs to rise faster than wages. And across a variety of professions, the push for more pay could prompt a summer of discontent here. Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted to Parliament this week his government was doing its best to alleviate⁸ this cost-of-living crisis.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON: Actually, Mr. Speaker, under this government, 5 million public sector⁶ pay - public sector workers are getting a pay rise, Mr. Speaker. We've increased the living wage by a thousand pounds. We've increased universal credit so that people get a thousand pounds more.

MARX: The pandemic and Brexit have upended Britain's jobs market, with many sectors struggling to recruit or retain new staff, among them aviation.

WAYNE KING: The pressure on our members is exceptional, and the hours our members are working are excessive. And it is deeply unfair, and it was completely avoidable.

MARX: Wayne King is a coordinating⁹ officer for Unite, the union that represents many staff at U.K. airports like London Heathrow. He says his union warned that cutting staff during the pandemic could cause problems when restrictions¹⁰ finally lifted.

KING: They didn't listen to us, and we are where we are with it. And I think it's going to be a very disruptive and disrupted summer because there just aren't enough people there to deliver the services to get people away.

MARX: Air operators acknowledge they're struggling to find, train and win security clearance¹¹ for new workers, and that's led to recent chaos¹² at U.K. airports, according to Rob Griggs, policy director at advocacy group Airlines UK.

ROB GRIGGS: Some airports, it was security staff. Some airports, it was baggage handlers. In some airports, it was a lack of staff, air traffic control. In some airports, it was the airlines who struggled with crew. So because it's a complex ecosystem¹³, all those pieces need to work together.

MARX: This summer at London Heathrow, some of those pieces may not work at all without better pay after hundreds of British Airways¹⁴ staff voted this week to strike. Also this week, a union representing almost half a million teachers threatened to strike, too, unless their pay rises in line with inflation, currently running above 9%. Niamh Sweeney is the deputy general secretary of that union, the NEU.

NIAMH SWEENEY: Teacher pay is at the lowest level in 40 years when compared to comparable earnings¹⁵, even in the public sector. And teachers have seen their real terms earnings reduced by between 17% and 20% in the last 10 years.

MARX: The legal profession has its own wage woes¹⁶. Defense¹⁷ attorneys plan to strike for as long as it takes to end low government-mandated pay that they say is gumming up the justice system and driving talent away from their profession. In response to so many complaints from so many different sectors, the government says its spending must be kept down. But with inflation running rampant¹⁸, many British workers simply want their wages to keep up. For NPR News, I'm Willem Marx in London.

1 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

4 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

5 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

9 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

11 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。

12 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

13 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

14 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

15 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

16 woes   

困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉

参考例句：

• Thanks for listening to my woes. 谢谢您听我诉说不幸的遭遇。
• She has cried the blues about its financial woes. 对于经济的困难她叫苦不迭。

17 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

18 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。