VOA新闻杂志2023--Many US Workers Criticize Low Pay, Long Hours

Many US Workers Criticize Low Pay, Long Hours

From truck drivers to Hollywood actors, many workers in the United States are complaining about low pay and long hours.

The unhappiness is a result of changes in technology and the economy. And worker's jobs have changed as companies try to meet customer expectations for speed and ease.

Delivery drivers

Jeffrey Palmerino is a driver for the delivery company United Parcel Service (UPS) near Albany, New York. The full-time¹ driver said he was forced to work overtime² during the pandemic to deal with a large increase in orders. And 14-hour days in trucks without air conditioning became usual.

"For two straight years... A lot of us were forced to work six days a week, and that is not any way to live your life," said Palmerino.

The working conditions led to talk of a strike by a labor³ group known as the Teamsters. But UPS and the Teamsters last week reached an early deal that would put off the strike. Labor activists⁴ said the deal would pressure other companies facing labor issues to raise their standards.

Patricia Campos-Medina is with the Worker Institute at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. The Institute released a report this year that found the number of U.S. labor strikes rose 52 percent in 2022.

"The whole idea that consumer convenience is above everything broke down during the pandemic. We started to think, ‘I'm at home ordering,'.... but there is actually a worker who has to go the grocery store, who has to cook this for me so that I can be comfortable,'" Campos-Medina said.

Screenwriters and actors

Some UPS drivers recently joined the Writer's Guild⁵ of America (WGA) for protests.

Hollywood screenwriters and actors are holding their first strikes in 40 years because the rise of streaming services has changed entertainment economics. The result has been decreased pay and faster production times with smaller teams.

Actors and writers have long depended on residuals⁶, or long-term payments, for reruns and other airings of films and television shows. But reruns do not exist on streaming services, where shows and movies are available at all times.

There is also no easy way, such as ticket sales or ratings, to determine their popularity. As a result, streaming services often pay little for residuals.

Adam Shapiro is an actor known for the Netflix hit Never Have I Ever. He said many actors were happy at first to accept lower pay for the sudden increase in acting⁷ jobs that streaming services offered. But the need for better pay gained urgency when it became clear streaming is the future of the business, he said.

"Over the past 10 years, we realized: ‘Oh, that's now how Hollywood works. Everything is streaming,'" Shapiro said during a recent union event.

Shapiro said he agreed to a deal offering 20 percent of his normal pay for Never Have I Ever because it seemed like "a great opportunity, and it's going to be all over the world." He added, "Unfortunately, we're all starting to realize that if we keep doing this we're not going to be able to pay our bills."

Danielle Sanchez-Witzel is co-creator of the recently released Netflix show Survival of the Thickest. She said television shows traditionally hire a team of writers for the length of the series production. However, Netflix only lets her keep one writer after pre-production to deal with any changes in the story.

"It's not sustainable and I'll never do that again," the screenwriter said.

Words in This Story

delivery – n. the act of taking something to a person or place

overtime – n. time spent working at your job that is in addition to your normal working hours

standard – n. a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable

streaming – n. playing shows or films by using data sent over the Internet

opportunity – n. an amount of time or a situation in which something can be done

ticket - n. a piece of paper that allows you to see a show

sustainable -- adj. able to last or continue for a long time

1 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。

2 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

3 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。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

6 residuals   

剩余误差

参考例句：

• In some cases residuals from these arrivals will stack up to give nearly horizontal alignments. 在某些情况下，这些波至的残余会叠加在一起给出近于水平的同相轴。
• Strong oscillations can occur in the residuals as the number of terms is increased. 随着次数的增加，剩余时差会发生强烈的摆动。

7 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。