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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

I’m Phoebe Zimmerman.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Program, People in America.  Today we tell about one of the country’s greatest labor1 leaders, Samuel Gompers.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

 
Samuel Gompers
Samuel Gompers was born in London, England in eighteen fifty.  His parents were poor people who had moved to England from the Netherlands to seek a better life.  Sam was a very good student. However, when he was ten years old, he was forced to quit school and go to work to help feed the family.  He was the oldest of five sons.  Like his father, Sam became a tobacco cigar maker2. He liked the cigar-making industry because it had a group of members.   During meetings, workers could talk about their problems.  This is where young Sam began to develop an interest in labor issues.

VOICE TWO:

But life was difficult for the Gompers family in London, even with both Sam and his father working.   They soon decided3 to move to the United States to again try to make a better life for themselves.  In eighteen sixty-three, the Gompers family got on a ship and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.  Seven weeks later, the ship arrived in New York City.  The Gompers settled in a poor part of New York where many immigrants lived.

VOICE ONE:

Sam soon learned that life in America was not easy.  At that time, most people worked many hours each day for little money.  They worked making goods in factories.  Often these factories had poor working conditions.  New York was known for these so-called “sweatshops.‿nbsp; Whole families, including young children, worked fourteen hours a day in sweatshops for just enough money to stay alive.

Sam hated the sweatshops and refused to work there.  Instead, he and his father became cigar makers4 again.  Soon Sam joined the Cigarmakers International Union.  In those days, labor unions were not strong or permanent.  They did little to help workers in their struggle for better working conditions and a better life.  Sam believed this needed to change. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Sam Gompers was married at the age of seventeen. He became a father one year later. He earned a living making cigars in shops around New York City.  Employers recognized him as a skilled and valuable worker.  The men he worked with recognized him as an effective labor activist5

Sam also became a student of socialism.  In eighteen seventy-three, he started working for an old German socialist6, David Hirsch.   Most of Mister Hirsch’s workers were also socialists7 from Germany.  These men became Samuel Gompers‿teachers.  They taught him much about trade unions. 

One teacher was Karl Laurrell, who had been the leader in Europe of the International Workingman’s Association.  Mister Laurrell taught Sam Gompers what labor unity8 meant.  He also taught him about “collective bargaining.‿nbsp; This is how representatives of labor groups meet with the people they work for and negotiate an agreement.  For example, labor and management might negotiate for more money, fewer hours and cleaner working places for workers. 

VOICE ONE:

In time, Samuel Gompers used his knowledge of labor issues to help cigar makers throughout New York form a single, representative union.  It was called the Cigarmakers‿Local Number One Hundred Forty-Four.  Each cigar shop in New York had its own small union that elected a representative to sit on the council of a larger union. In eighteen seventy-five, this council elected Mister Gompers as president of Cigarmakers‿Local Number One Hundred Forty-Four. 

The union’s constitution was like the constitution of a democratic government.  All people in the union had a representative voice.  Experts say the organizing of Cigarmakers‿Local Number One Hundred Forty-Four was the beginning of the American labor movement.

VOICE TWO:

Sam Gompers believed that one day all working men and women could belong to organized trade unions.  He believed workers should not be forced to sell their labor at too low a price.   He also believed each person must have the power to improve his or her own life.  A person can get this power by joining with others in a union.  He believed a democratic trade union can speak and act for all its workers.  This is the same way a democratic government speaks for the people because voters elect officials to represent them.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Labor organizations began to grow stronger in America during the late nineteenth century.   At the same time, Sam Gompers started to speak of new ideas.  He dreamed of bringing all trade unions together into one big, nation-wide organization that could speak with one voice for workers throughout the country.

In eighteen eighty-one, Mister Gompers was sent as the delegate of the cigar makers union to a conference of unions.  The delegates agreed to organize an alliance called the Federation9 of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada.  The alliance held yearly meeting of national union and local labor councils.  It was designed to educate the public on worker issues, prepare labor-related legislation, and pressure Congress to approve such bills.  Sam Gompers was an officer in the alliance for five years. 

VOICE TWO:

During that time, he worked for several measures to improve the lives of workers and children.  These included proposals to reduce the work day to eight hours, limit child labor and require children to attend school. He soon learned, however, that the alliance of unions had neither the money nor the power to do much more than talk about these issues.  So, in eighteen eighty-six, Sam Gompers helped organize a new union for all labor unions.  It was called the American Federation of Labor. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Sam Gompers was elected president of the American Federation of Labor in eighteen eighty-six. He held that position, except for one year, for thirty-eight years until he died. In eighteen ninety, the A.F.L. represented two hundred fifty thousand workers.  Two years later, the number had grown to more than one million workers.  Under his leadership, the A.F.L. grew from a few struggling labor unions to become the major organization within the labor movement in the United States.

VOICE TWO:

As leader of the A.F.L. Mister Gompers had enemies both within and outside the labor movement.  Some opponents believed Mister Gompers was more interested in personal power than in improving the rights of workers. They believed his ideas about strikes and collective bargaining could not stop big business.  They believed the American Federation of Labor was a conservative organization designed to serve skilled workers only. 

Other opponents considered Sam Gompers a foreign-born troublemaker10 who wanted to destroy property rights.   At the same time, opponents in industry and business feared that the labor leader was demanding too much for workers.  They said his talk violated the law, and that he excited workers and urged them to strike. 

VOICE ONE:

Sam Gompers was not troubled by any of these attacks.  He argued that because there was freedom of speech in America, he would not be afraid to speak freely.  He said that no one hated strikes more than he did because workers suffered the most in a strike.  However, he said that in a democracy, strikes were necessary.  After a strike, he said, businessmen and workers understood each other better and this was good for the nation.   He said: “I hope the day will never come when the workers surrender their right to strike.‿/P>

Sam Gompers also had an interest in international labor issues.  At the end of World War One, he attended the Versailles Treaty negotiations11.  He was helpful in creating the International Labor Organization under the League of Nations. He also supported trade unionism in Mexico.

VOICE TWO:

Samuel Gompers died in nineteen twenty-four.  He is remembered as “the grand old man of labor.‿nbsp; He worked during his whole life for one cause ‿ improving the rights of workers.  He led the fight for shorter working hours, higher pay, safe and clean working conditions and democracy in the workplace. 

In nineteen fifty-five, the American Federation of Labor joined with the Congress of Industrial Organization to form the A.F.L.-C.I.O.   This organization has become an influential12 part of American economic and political life.  It has also helped improve the lives of millions of American workers.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE: 

This Special English Program was written by Jill Moss13.  It was produced by Cynthia Kirk.   I’m Phoebe Zimmerman.

VOICE TWO: 

And I’m Steve Ember.  Join us again next week for another People In America Program on the VOICE OF AMERICA.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 labor P9Tzs     
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。
2 maker DALxN     
n.制造者,制造商
参考例句:
  • He is a trouble maker,You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼,你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
3 decided lvqzZd     
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。
4 makers 22a4efff03ac42c1785d09a48313d352     
n.制造者,制造商(maker的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
  • The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
6 socialist jwcws     
n.社会主义者;adj.社会主义的
参考例句:
  • China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家,也是一个发展中国家。
  • His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。
7 socialists df381365b9fb326ee141e1afbdbf6e6c     
社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
  • The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后,就把其政治信条弃之不顾。
8 unity 4kQwT     
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
参考例句:
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
9 federation htCzMS     
n.同盟,联邦,联合,联盟,联合会
参考例句:
  • It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
  • Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。
10 troublemaker xflzsY     
n.惹是生非者,闹事者,捣乱者
参考例句:
  • I would hate you to think me a troublemaker.我不愿你认为我是个搬弄是非的人。
  • Li Yang has always been a troublemaker.李阳总是制造麻烦。
11 negotiations af4b5f3e98e178dd3c4bac64b625ecd0     
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。
12 influential l7oxK     
adj.有影响的,有权势的
参考例句:
  • He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
  • He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。
13 moss X6QzA     
n.苔,藓,地衣
参考例句:
  • Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
  • He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

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