新西兰英语 614 Affco Lockouts and Strikes

 　　Affco is a meat company with seven processing plants (or factories) in the North Island. At the processing plants, animals are killed for meat and the meat is prepared for sale in New Zealand or overseas. Frozen¹ or chilled² meat is our second largest export. (Dairy products are first.) Many of these processing plants are in small rural³ towns where there are not many other jobs.

　　In November, the company offered union members a new contract with a small increase in pay. The contract also said that the company was planning to use more technology for meat processing. Usually this means workers lose jobs. Union members refused to sign the new contract. At the end of February, the company decided⁴ to lock out about 1,000 workers. They could not go to work. Other workers then went on strike to support the workers who were locked out.

　　While some workers are now back at work, other workers are not. No work means no money. The company too is losing money with the strike. It is hard to know how this problem can be solved.

　　However, there is hope today that the company and the union will meet with a mediator⁵ to see if they can come to an agreement.

　　Vocabulary

　　?Union – a Trade Union. Members try to get a contract for all union members.

　　?refused – said, “No”.

　　?solve – find an answer

　　?mediator – a person like a judge who listens to both sides to try to solve disagreements.

　　Grammar and Idioms

　　1.Passive⁶ – are killed, is prepared. Passive is used when we do not need to know who does the work. We want to know what happens not who does it.

　　2.largest, second largest, third largest

　　3.to go on strike

　　4.to come to an agreement

1 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

2 chilled   

adj. 冷却的, 冷藏的，冷冻了的 动词chill的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He felt totally chilled. 他感觉完全放松了下来。
• Rain chilled the glittering pageant. 雨使华丽的庆典大为逊色。

3 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

4 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。

5 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

6 passive   

adj.被动的；消极的

参考例句：

• He has a passive expression on his face.他脸上有一种漠然的表情。
• It lands the manager in a passive position.它使经理处于被动地位。