美国国家公共电台 NPR--How a freight train strike could throw your plans to travel by train off track

How a freight train strike could throw your plans to travel by train off track

Transcript¹

CHICAGO — The United States may be hurtling toward a freight rail strike, one that could spill over into passenger service in much of the country. Railroads are cutting shipments; Amtrak has stopped some passenger routes. The sticking point isn't pay. It's the tough lifestyle that railroading imposes on people who drive trains — long shifts, lots of nights away, and the need to be on-call, able to get to work in two hours or less, for weeks on end.

On a normal day, about 7,000 freight trains crisscross the U.S, according to the Association of American Railroads, hauling most of the stuff that makes the economy work. But this whole system could shut down later this week because the people who drive these trains for a living are so angry, according to Dennis Pierce, who's president of the engineers union, Brotherhood² of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

"I have never seen this level of anger," Pierce says. "Animosity. Acrimony. You pick the word," he says. "That means they're pissed off, 'cause they are." He says even though freight train engineers and conductors haven't had a raise in three years, that's not the issue. "They do not have days off. They do not have a schedule." They're on call, Pierce says, for weeks on end.

Engineers and conductors want more predictable, and flexible, schedules

Railroad engineers and conductors are paid well, typically about $100,000 a year. Even so, former engineer Millie Hood³ — who drove trains 38 years for Burlington Northern Santa Fe — says the occupation is brutal⁴. "Yeah, it sucks the life right out of you," Hood says. "You're constantly thinking about the job. When I got off work, I'd go home and go to sleep and I immediately know when I get up that they could call me to go to work."

Engineers and conductors want more predictable, and flexible, schedules. Two unions representing engineers and conductors have been bargaining with the railroads, along with 10 other unions representing other railroad workers, for close to three years.

The upshot of all that talking is a compromise hammered out this summer by a Presidential Emergency Board appointed by President Biden. It would offer rail workers the biggest pay hike in decades, boosting railroad wages 24% by 2024. But it doesn't get at the work schedule issues, and Pierce says the railroads can do better.

"Union Pacific reported its best year ever last year," Pierce says. "And that's like 160 years' worth of best years, billions of dollars in profits. They can afford everything their employees are asking for. ... Like hiring enough employees to cover for employees' absences when engineers or conductors need time off on short notice."

Still, all the other railroad unions have tentatively signed off on the proposal currently on the table. The engineers and conductors are holding out and they could trigger a strike Friday morning.

A railroad strike could mean "people are not going to be able to make it home"

That would cause immediate⁵ problems for manufacturers, says Lee Sanders with the American Bakers⁶ Association. This is nationwide. And a broad range of manufacturers who get parts, packaging and raw material delivered by rail would be affected⁷.

"If we don't get the ingredients that we need to our plants, we won't be able to make the products that we need to get our wholesome⁸ products to the consumers," Sanders says.

So, empty shelves are a possibility. And farmers are worried about shipping⁹ grain. Dangerous chemicals have already stopped moving. Especially valuable goods are next, and passengers are getting stranded¹⁰, too.

Amtrak is already shutting down some of its long-distance routes, like the Southwest Chief, from Chicago to Los Angeles, the Silver Star, from New York to Miami, and the Empire Builder, from Chicago to Portland and Seattle. That's because, outside of the Northeast, most Amtrak trains use tracks that are owned and operated by the big freight railroads. So, if there's a strike, those trains can't run.

At Union Station in Kansas City, Tia Henderson and her baby daughter waited Tuesday for their regular train to St. Louis.

"People need to travel back and forth¹¹. People that don't have as much finances, that don't have a car," Henderson says. "So I feel like them stopping that'll be a horrible thing to do because people are not going to be able to make it home."

A railroad strike could cost billions of dollars and derail lots of travel plans. It's a political nightmare for the party in power. The Biden administration is leaning on the railroads and holdout unions to come to an agreement.

If they don't, and there's a strike or a lockout, Congress will likely move to force the two sides to accept a deal and go back to work.

1 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。

2 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

3 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

4 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 bakers   

n.面包师( baker的名词复数 )；面包店；面包店店主；十三

参考例句：

• The Bakers have invited us out for a meal tonight. 贝克一家今晚请我们到外面去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bakers specialize in catering for large parties. 那些面包师专门负责为大型宴会提供食品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。