美国国家公共电台 NPR From Amazon To Walmart, 2020 Candidates Take On Big Corporations By Name

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

All right. Some of the presidential candidates have been calling out brand names as they campaign. Elizabeth Warren wants to break up Amazon, she says. Kamala Harris says McDonald's underpays its workers. Bernie Sanders is addressing Walmart's shareholders¹ at their annual meeting today. Sanders is presenting a proposal on behalf of workers to get representation on the board and also lobbying for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben is covering the 2020 campaign and is in our studios.

Good morning.

DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE³: Morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: How does Bernie Sanders get access to a shareholders meeting, which, I think, is a closed universe there, isn't it?

KURTZLEBEN: Right, yeah. I mean, that's a good question because, like his campaign told me, he is not a Walmart shareholder² but he will be there on behalf of Cat Davis. She is a Walmart associate. Aside from that, she is a leader of a group that campaigns for worker rights at different retailers⁴, including at Walmart.

INSKEEP: Walmart associate - that means someone who works at Walmart. Is that right?

KURTZLEBEN: Yes.

INSKEEP: OK, go on.

KURTZLEBEN: Absolutely, yeah. She's a Walmart employee. And so he is going to present a proposal on her behalf. She has said, he's my representative for the day. And that proposal, yeah, would say that Walmart has to consider at least hourly workers in adding them to their board, so this could mean Walmart hourly workers being on the Walmart board. Now, this proposal, by the way, just so happens to dovetail with the policy that The Washington Post has reported that Sanders is working on. That proposal would give workers more power at corporations, including seats on their boards. Elizabeth Warren has put out a similar policy, by the way. So this isn't - he's not alone in this. But speaking last week in Nevada, he really called out Walmart. He said this is a preview of his remarks to the Walmart shareholders.

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BERNIE SANDERS: So my message to the Walton family is we are sick and tired of subsidizing you. Pay your workers a living wage.

KURTZLEBEN: Right, so he's talking about more than board representation there. He's also talking about pay.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

KURTZLEBEN: He has a lot of complaints against Walmart.

INSKEEP: Just to be clear, when he says we're sick and tired of subsidizing you, what is he saying there about low-paid workers?

KURTZLEBEN: He's talking about the fact that low-paid workers, even while they may have full-time⁵ jobs, may also be on food stamps, for example, using the social safety net that the federal government and state governments provide.

INSKEEP: So he's saying, we're paying for this. That's got to end. He wants to make changes in things such as corporate⁶ boards that might change the incentives⁷ and change the motivations...

KURTZLEBEN: Right.

INSKEEP: ...Or at least change who has the power at a company.

KURTZLEBEN: Yeah.

INSKEEP: But why would Sanders, among other candidates, be calling out specific companies in this way rather than calling for broader changes in policy?

KURTZLEBEN: Sure. So I mean, leaving aside that, of course, people like Bernie Sanders - Elizabeth Warren is another person, like we've mentioned. They have sincere beliefs that some of these companies are doing wrong. But aside from that, you know, there are a few things. One is that, you know, when you mention a company, especially a name brand...

INSKEEP: Yeah.

KURTZLEBEN: ...Like Amazon, Walmart, Google, Facebook, whatever - companies that people are familiar with - it makes your policy ideas more concrete. So Bernie Sanders talks about the topic of income inequality, which, to a lot of voters, might be a big, nebulous thing. But if Bernie Sanders says, I think that Walmart is contributing to income inequality, that might make it more concrete, more understandable for voters who might shop there, know people who work there, that sort of thing.

INSKEEP: And just in terms of storytelling, you have a villain⁸ then, I suppose. Don't you?

KURTZLEBEN: Most definitely, yeah. And you get to be the person who's taking on the man and sticking it to the man kind of.

INSKEEP: Danielle, thanks so much.

KURTZLEBEN: Of course.

INSKEEP: NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben in our studios this morning.

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INSKEEP: And we should mention that a bunch of the companies that we just mentioned - Walmart, Amazon, Google, Facebook, among others - they are among NPR's financial sponsors.

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1 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

2 shareholder   

n.股东，股票持有人

参考例句：

• The account department have prepare a financial statement for the shareholder.财务部为股东准备了一份财务报表。
• A shareholder may transfer his shares in accordance with the law.股东持有的股份可以依法转让。

3 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。

4 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

5 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。