新奇事件簿 英格兰银行职员罢工

Workers at the United Kingdom's central bank, the Bank of England, have voted to stage a four-day strike in support of a pay claim. It will be the first walkout by staff from the bank in over five decades. Over 95 per cent of bankers who voted opted¹ for strike action over what they deem to be an unacceptable pay rise offer. The Bank offered its workers a collective one per cent pay rise for its staff. The deal means that a third of staff could get no pay increase at all. The union that represents the Bank's workers said: "The result of the Bank's unwillingness² to negotiate fair pay will be that the Bank's sites, including the iconic Threadneedle Street [premises] in the City of London, will effectively be inoperable."

大不列颠联合王国中央银行工作人员投票决定发动为期四天的罢工，要求加薪。这将是50多年来这家银行的职员首次举行罢工行动。95%的投票者选择罢工，因为银行的加薪幅度让他们难以接受。中央银行提出集体加薪1%。这意味着三分之一的职员根本享受不到加薪。银行职员工会表示：“银行不愿协商公平的薪水的结果就是，银行网站，包括伦敦市标志性的针线街的银行都无法使用。”

The Bank of England was established in 1694. It is the second oldest central bank in operation today. Workers at the bank are suffering along with millions more public sector³ staff in the UK who have had their annual salary increase capped at one per cent. This is below the level of inflation, which currently stands at 2.9 per cent. A union spokeswoman said workers would be taking action, "because of the bank's total refusal to accept that its workforce⁴ is struggling to meet their costs of living". She added: "It is nothing short of shameful⁵ that the iconic symbol of financial services in the UK is choosing to ride roughshod over the concerns of its dedicated⁶ and hardworking staff and impose this derisory pay deal."

英格兰银行于1694年成立。这是时至今日仍在运营的第二大古老的银行。这家银行的工作人员和英国数百万公共部门工作人员一样，年薪增加幅度限制在1%。而现在的通货膨胀率是2.9%。工会一名女发言人表示，工人们将会采取行动，“因为银行完全拒绝承认他们的员工生活捉禁见肘。”她补充说：“这是非常可耻的，英国标志性的金融服务机构对忠心耿耿，辛勤工作的员工的忧虑视而不见，加薪幅度如此霸道。”

1 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

2 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

6 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。