VOA慢速英语2019 公司试图阻止加利福尼亚法律覆盖独立工人

Companies Seek to Block California Law Covering Independent Workers

Two companies that employ independent workers are taking legal action to block a California law that offers protections to such workers.

雇用独立工人的公司正在采取法律行动，以阻止加利福尼亚法律为此类工人提供保护。

The ride-sharing company Uber joined delivery service Postmates in the lawsuit¹. The two companies argue that the new law violates federal and state constitutional guarantees of equal protection and fair justice.

乘车共享公司Uber在诉讼中加入了邮递服务Postmates。两家公司争辩说，新法律违反了联邦和州宪法对平等保护和公平正义的保证。

The law is set to take effect in California on Wednesday.

该法律定于周三在加利福尼亚生效。

Supporters have argued that the new rules protect the rights of workers who are independent contractors³.

支持者认为，新规则保护了独立承包商工人的权利。

The law requires companies to provide some independent contractors with the same kinds of work protections and benefits that employees receive. In addition to Uber and Postmates, the lawsuit includes two independent workers fighting the law.

该法律要求公司向一些独立承包商提供与雇员相同的工作保护和福利。除了Uber和Postmates之外，诉讼还包括两名独立的法律工作者。

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law in September. It has brought greater attention to the rights of independent workers. The California law is seen as a possible model for future legislation in other states.

加利福尼亚州州长加文·纽瑟姆（Gavin Newsom）于9月签署了该法律。它引起了对独立工人权利的更多关注。加州法律被视为其他州未来立法的可能模式。

Companies like Uber, Lyft, Postmates and others depend on the state's estimated 450,000 contract workers to work as drivers to keep their businesses running. The workers are considered independent contractors; they choose which hours and days they want to work.

优步（Uber），Lyft，Postmates等公司都依靠该州约45万名合同工作为司机来保持业务运转。工人被视为独立承包商；他们选择要工作的时间和日期。

The lawsuit argues that the new law covers some industries – like ride-sharing and delivery – but not others that operate similarly. It also states that the rules violate workers' rights to choose how they earn a living.

诉讼认为，新法律涵盖了某些行业，例如乘车共享和送货业，但不适用于其他类似运营的行业。它还指出，这些规则侵犯了工人选择其谋生方式的权利。

The lawsuit also argues that the new law harms companies providing independent services "by denying their constitutional rights to be treated the same as others to whom they are similarly situated⁴."

该诉讼还辩称，新法律损害了提供独立服务的公司，“剥夺了其宪法权利与他们所处的类似地位的人一样的待遇”。

The lawsuit described a study that suggested the law would increase Lyft's operating costs by 20 percent and cut the number of drivers in California by about 300,000.

该诉讼描述了一项研究，该研究表明该法律将使Lyft的运营成本增加20％，并使加利福尼亚的驾驶员数量减少约30万。

Democratic state lawmaker Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego helped write the bill. She said the law is meant to extend employee rights to more than a million independent workers who lack benefits. Those benefits include a minimum wage, paid time off and medical coverage⁵.

圣地亚哥的民主州议员罗琳娜·冈萨雷斯（Lorena Gonzalez）帮助撰写了该法案。她说，该法律旨在将雇员权利扩大到超过一百万名缺乏福利的独立工人。这些福利包括最低工资，带薪休假和医疗保险。

Gonzalez noted⁶ that Uber had sought to receive exemptions⁹ to the law when legislators were working on the bill. Uber joined Lyft and DoorDash in promising¹⁰ to spend $30 million each in an effort to have the law overturned by voters during the 2020 election.

冈萨雷斯指出，当立法者正在研究该法案时，Uber试图获得法律的豁免。优步与Lyft和DoorDash一起承诺各自投入3,000万美元，以在2020年大选中使选民推翻法律。

Gonzalez said in a statement: "The one clear thing we know about Uber is they will do anything to try to exempt⁷ themselves from state regulations that make us all safer and their driver employees self-sufficient."

冈萨雷斯在一份声明中说：“我们知道的关于Uber的一件事是，他们将尽一切努力使自己免于国家法规的束缚，这些法规使我们所有人都更安全，驾驶员员工也自给自足。”

She added: "In the meantime, Uber chief executives will continue to become billionaires while too many of their drivers are forced to sleep in their cars."

她补充说：“与此同时，优步首席执行官将继续成为亿万富翁，而太多的司机被迫上车睡觉。”

Words in This Story

delivery – n. the taking of goods from one place to another

lawsuit – n. a legal action brought before a court

contractor² – n. a person or company that supplies goods or does work for other people

benefit – n. assistance provided by employers to workers

minimum – adj. the least or smallest amount

exemption⁸ – n. the process of freeing from a responsibility to do something

regulation – n. an official rule that controls how something is done

self-sufficient – adj. able to do things independently and not needing help from others

executive – n. person with a high position in a company or the government

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

3 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 exempt   

adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者

参考例句：

• These goods are exempt from customs duties.这些货物免征关税。
• He is exempt from punishment about this thing.关于此事对他已免于处分。

8 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。

9 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

10 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。