搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Labor1 relations in the American auto2 industry took a new turn this week with a deal that many are calling historic.
An employee returns to work at the General Motors factory in Warren, Michigan
General Motors and the United Auto Workers agreed on a proposed new contract after a strike that lasted two days. Seventy-three thousand union workers walked off the job.
Job security was the top issue for union members. The U.A.W. is seeking to protect jobs in the United States and limit the number of temporary workers used by General Motors.
For G.M., the main issue was to find a way to cut its costs for health care for retired3 workers. The nation's largest automaker estimates its long-term responsibilities at more than fifty billion dollars.
Under the agreement, G.M. would create a trust called a volunteer employee benefit association. This VEBA would pay health care costs for retirees. G.M. is expected to invest about thirty-five billion dollars to start the fund. The fund would be independently administered and the union would supervise it.
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said the fund should secure benefits for retirees for the next eighty years.
G.M. has seen its share of the North American market shrink while its labor costs have remained far above its biggest competitor, Toyota. The deal would give G.M. the right to lower pay for some new employees.
The agreement is likely to provide an example for coming talks with the two other major American automakers, Ford4 and Chrysler.
The new contract still needs final approval by the union. Until then the full details are not being released. The union expects its members to begin voting this weekend.
The trust would also need approval by the courts and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The process is expected to take two years. After that, G.M. would no longer have to pay for health benefits for its retirees.
Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the agreement will help his company become more competitive. This, he says, will permit G.M. to keep a strong manufacturing presence in the United States and make future investments.
This was the first nationwide strike against G.M. since nineteen seventy.
The existing contract ended at midnight on September fourteenth. Union members continued working until their leaders called the strike Monday morning. The strike ended early Wednesday after negotiators reached the agreement.
And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Bob Doughty5.
1 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: |
|
|
2 auto | |
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 Ford | |
n.浅滩,水浅可涉处;v.涉水,涉过 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 doughty | |
adj.勇猛的,坚强的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。