美国国家公共电台 NPR--President Biden touts tentative labor deal to avert rail strike

President Biden touts¹ tentative labor² deal to avert³ rail strike

Transcript⁴

The strike would have had ripple⁵ effects across America's economy. Railroads, manufacturers and shippers were preparing for the worst.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

This morning, President Biden is touting⁶ a tentative deal to avert a rail strike.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: And this is a win for tens of thousands of rail workers and for their dignity and the dignity of their work. It's a recognition of that.

MART?NEZ: The strike would have had ripple effects across America's economy. NPR's Andrea Hsu joins us now. Andrea, what else did the president have to say about this? I know he called it a win. And give us some details about that contract.

ANDREA HSU, BYLINE⁷: Yeah. He said he was very pleased, and he thanked Business and Labor. You know, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh was in talks with these group - with these parties until the wee hours of this morning. So what this contract gives workers is a very substantial raise over a five-year period that goes from 2020 to 2024. You know, they've been negotiating this contract for several years. So workers will get a 14% wage increase once the contract is ratified⁸ and then raises next year and the year after, too. So that comes to a total of 24% in wage increases over five years. And that sounds like a lot, but it's actually less than the unions had originally asked for, citing the record inflation that we've been experiencing.

But, A, the unions are also highlighting another piece of this deal that they say was key to reaching an agreement, and that is language that allows workers to take time off for medical needs without facing discipline. This was the issue holding up the deal in recent days. And the unions say this is important because it sets a precedent⁹ that these kinds of workplace policies are something they can bargain over.

MART?NEZ: Yeah, it sounds like something really basic, a real work-life balance kind of thing, being able to take time off when you're sick.

HSU: Yeah, and we heard the president there talk about the dignity of these workers. He says workers need to have their right to go to the doctor and stay healthy. Now, the unions had originally asked for 15 days of paid sick leave, but that was a nonstarter for the rail companies. So what they're getting is a lot less than that. But under these attendance policies that have been introduced, you know, really, since the pandemic, workers were actually getting penalized¹⁰ if they got sick and had to go to the doctor unexpectedly. The unions had called these policies draconian¹¹. They said they were forcing workers to report to work ill and fatigued¹². And the rail carriers said they introduced these policies to ensure consistency¹³ and reliability¹⁴ in attendance, which they said they needed to stay competitive.

But of course, this contract still has to be voted on by the membership, so we'll get a sense of what the workforce¹⁵ thinks of this deal, you know, in the coming days.

MART?NEZ: Any sense of how they might vote now?

HSU: Well, it's kind of too early to know, but a glance at social media shows that at least some of them are really not happy. They wanted those paid sick days, and they're not getting those paid sick days, though the deal does include one more day of paid personal leave. You know, just - being a railroad engineer, a conductor, it's a really hard job. You have these really unpredictable schedules. You're on call most of the time. It's hard to plan your life. And in the pandemic, a lot of workers decided¹⁶, you know, that's not OK. So it will be interesting to see whether this deal goes far enough for a majority of the rail workers. And, you know, in other contract negotiations¹⁷ and other industries, workers have voted down contracts. But in any event, the so-called cooling-off period has been extended. So there will not be a strike for now.

MART?NEZ: OK, when will these workers vote on this, though?

HSU: Well, it's not going to be immediate¹⁸. The lawyers do have to go over all the fine print, and they have to present this deal to the workers, and they'll have some time to review it before they vote. So what I'm hearing is not days but weeks.

MART?NEZ: Now, we know some shipments were canceled in anticipation¹⁹ of a possible strike, and Amtrak suspended some of their passenger train routes. Tell us more about that. Is that going to not happen now?

HSU: Yeah, well, some companies had stopped shipments of cars and other valuable goods and things like dangerous chemicals, chlorine, so that the trains that were moving those goods would not end up stranded²⁰ if there was a strike. So I imagine those will continue. Those will restart. Amtrak had canceled its long-distance trains as of today, and they'll need probably several days to get those routes back on track.

MART?NEZ: All right, that's NPR's Andrea Hsu. Thanks a lot.

HSU: You're welcome.

1 touts   

n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• Many vouchers are returned for cash, allowing touts and middle men to make a healthy margin. 许多月饼券都被兑换成现金，这让券贩子和中间商赚取了不蜚的利润。 来自互联网
• Spotting prey, the customary crowd of hustlers and touts swarmed around, jostling for my business. 照例有大群的拉客黄牛在寻觅猎物，他们争相过来抢我的生意。 来自互联网

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

4 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。

5 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

6 touting   

v.兜售( tout的现在分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• He's been touting his novel around publishers for years. 他几年来一直到处找出版商兜售自己的小说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Technology industry leaders are touting cars as a hot area for growth. 科技产业领袖吹捧为增长热点地区的汽车。 来自互联网

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

9 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

10 penalized   

对…予以惩罚( penalize的过去式和过去分词 )； 使处于不利地位

参考例句：

• You will be penalized for poor spelling. 你拼写不好将会受到处罚。
• Team members will be penalized for lateness. 队员迟到要受处罚。

11 draconian   

adj.严苛的；苛刻的；严酷的；龙一样的

参考例句：

• You can't expect the people to obey such draconian regulations.你不能指望人民服从如此严苛的规定。
• The city needs a draconian way of dealing with robbers.这个城市需要一个严苛的办法来对付强盗。

12 fatigued   

adj. 疲乏的

参考例句：

• The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
• The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑，疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。

13 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

14 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

15 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

18 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。

19 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

20 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。