密歇根新闻广播 美汽车联合会与汽车工人之间的谈判仅剩不到一个月

The current negotiations¹ over the contracts are continuing pretty much out of the spotlight². There's a delicate balance that both sides are trying to pull off.

Detroit News business columnist³ Daniel Howes shared the "wants" and "needs" of both sides in these contract talks with us.

He penned a column today in the News about the talks.

First, the automakers "wants," according to Howes:

"They want to keep their costs down, and remain competitive with the foreign competitors operating in the United States," Howes says. "And they're going to be dragging their feet a little bit on base wage increases, and sweetening to health care, because health care is consuming, yet again, a big chunk⁴ of cash for them and they want to get their arms around it."

And the "wants" for the UAW, according to Howes:

"Start with base wage increases, I think, for both the so-called legacy⁵ workers and also for the second-tier workers who started getting hired after the 2007 agreement … More for the second-tier, I think, they want to get a little bigger chunk for them and maybe a little less for the legacy guys, but I don't think you get this deal ratified⁶ without base wage increases," he says.

Howes also says the UAW also wants to address where plants are moving and where products are made in these deals.

He says these talks are "very delicate" in nature for new UAW president, Dennis Williams.

"They're on the other side of what has been a real roaring back of Detroit financially, and from a product perspective," says Howes. "And I think the union is in a difficult position for a few reasons. One is, yes, there's no question these companies have made a lot of money. How can they can extract and reach a deal that enables these companies to continue to make money, but also rewards the workers in a way that makes sense?"

Howes says it's unusual for the talks to be so "under the radar⁷" this close to the end of negotiating time. Usually stories leak out about the talks. He says the fact that there's been so little attention on the talks reflects how Dennis Williams works.

1 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。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

4 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

5 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

6 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。

7 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。