新奇事件簿 英格兰银行职员罢工（在线收听）

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 opted 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 unwillingness 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 sector 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 workforce is struggling to meet their costs of living". She added: "It is nothing short of shameful that the iconic symbol of financial services in the UK is choosing to ride roughshod over the concerns of its dedicated 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。”