美国国家公共电台 NPR--Flight attendants picket airports — demanding that airlines fix chronic delays

Flight attendants picket¹ airports — demanding that airlines fix chronic² delays

Transcript³

Thousands of Southwest Airlines and United Airlines flight attendants picketed⁴ outside airport terminals Tuesday — calling for smoother operations, better pay and safety on the job.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Union flight attendants marched on picket lines at more than two dozen airports yesterday. They're not on strike, but they are demanding that their airlines address operational problems that they say have left passengers stranded⁵ by delays and cancellations and exhausted⁶ and frustrated⁷ their crews. NPR's David Schaper has more from Chicago.

UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: What do we want? Respect. When do we want it? Now.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE⁸: As chants on union picket lines go, this one at Chicago's O'Hare Airport yesterday is one you'd expect.

UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Respect. When do we want it? Now.

SCHAPER: But this one...

UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Hey, hey, ho, ho, waiting on hold is getting old.

SCHAPER: They're chanting, waiting on hold is getting old. And no, they're not airline passengers waiting for customer service agents. These are United Airlines flight attendants who say they have to wait hours on hold for crew schedules.

SCOTT PEJAS: We're now back to pre-pandemic levels as far as passenger load, but yet we're still not bringing back that support staff to support the flight attendants.

SCHAPER: That's Scott Pejas, the local council president for United's flight attendants in Chicago.

PEJAS: Flight attendants are on hold upwards⁹ of five hours on their off time trying to either get a hold of scheduling to get their assignment or to get a hotel room, even, to layover to get legal rest.

SCHAPER: The flight attendants say when long wait times keep them from getting the required amount of rest, they may not be available the next day, leading to even more flight delays and cancellations. United says the airline has worked hard to reduce wait times for flight attendants to talk to crew schedulers, and they've hired more of them. But that's not the only labor¹⁰ group nor the only airline. Southwest's flight attendants also picketed, and earlier this month, it was pilots at several airlines. Sara Nelson is president of the Association of Flight Attendants.

SARA NELSON: There's 700,000 workers who essentially¹¹ put contract bargaining on hold during the pandemic, continued to come to work. We need to now maintain people and attract people to these jobs.

SCHAPER: Contract talks are underway between several unions and airlines, but little progress has been made.

David Schaper, NPR News, Chicago.

1 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

2 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

3 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。

4 picketed   

用尖桩围住（picket的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They picketed the restaurant. 他们在饭馆外设置纠察。
• Humboldt riotously picketed Von Trenk but the play was a hit. 尽管洪堡肆意破坏《冯·特伦克》的上演，然而这个剧还是轰动一时。

5 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。

6 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

7 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

10 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。

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。