2007年VOA标准英语-Analysts Predict Massive Losses for General Mot

By Alex Villareal
Washington
25 September 2007

As members of the United Auto¹ Workers at General Motors continue on strike for second day Tuesday, industry analysts³ say the company could lose billions of dollars. VOA's Alex Villarreal reports from Washington.

Analysts say the strike by more than 73,000 General Motors workers will not hurt the U.S. automaker if it ends within the next two weeks.

But in a note to investors⁴ Monday, an analyst² at the global investment bank, Lehman Brothers, said if the strike lasts longer and production is lost in both Canada and Mexico, it could cost the largest U.S. automaker more than $8 billion by the end of the first month.

The strike - which began Monday - has already shut down one assembly plant in Canada and could force another plant closure by Tuesday evening.

 

On Monday, members of the United Auto Workers, or UAW, walked off their jobs at about 80 GM facilities across the United States, after contract talks broke down over job security and health care.

Speaking at a news conference, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said the strike was called after GM failed to meet the bargaining deadline set by the union.

"The company walked right up the deadline like they didn't really care," he said. "And as a result of that, we called a strike."

Gettelfinger says the primary unresolved issue is job security. The UAW wants GM to guarantee it will keep production jobs in the United States.

Negotiations⁵ also include a GM proposal to cut the company's healthcare costs by creating a UAW-run trust fund for retiree health benefits. GM has been seeking labor⁶ concessions⁷ to close a more than $25 per hour labor cost gap with its Japanese competitors, such as Toyota and Honda.

In a statement, GM said it is disappointed that the union decided⁸ to call a strike. The company said it is fully⁹ committed to working with the United Auto Workers and reaching an agreement as soon as possible on what it called its "competitive challenges."

But Gettelfinger says GM needs to change its approach.

"We were very disappointed in this round of negotiations to discover as we moved forward that it was a one-way set of negotiations," he said. "It was going to be General Motors' way at the expense of the workers."

Negotiations resumed shortly after the strike began and continued Tuesday for a 22nd straight day. The union's contract expired on Sept. 14.

This is the UAW's first nationwide strike against GM in 37 years.

In 1998, a UAW walkout at two GM parts plants in Flint, Michigan, shut down production and caused sales to plummet¹⁰.

GM is undergoing a massive restructuring in the face of a steady loss of market share to its Asian competitors. The company has been forced to close dozens of plants across the country and says it is still not profiting from its North American operations.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 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。

6 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。

7 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

8 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。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。