经济学人197:劳资关系在美国 波音受欺凌

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。

　　劳资关系在美国

　　Boeing bullied¹

　　波音受欺凌

　　Unions have the government in their corner

　　工会把政府拉入自己的阵营

　　AFTER several disruptive and costly² strikes in a part of the country where unions are strong, a company opens a new plant in a region where they are weak.

　　在国内一个工会势力很强的地方，在几次极具破坏力且耗资巨大的罢工之后，某公司在工会势力较弱的地方开办了一家新厂。

　　The union complains to a government agency, which accuses the company of illegal retaliation³ against the union.

　　工会向一个政府部门投诉，该部门状告公司对工会实行非法报复。

　　It seeks to force the company to relocate its new plant back in the heavily unionised region.

　　他们争取让公司将新工厂搬回工会势力强盛的地区。

　　Is this France, or Venezuela?

　　这是在法国，或是在委内瑞拉吗？

　　Neither; it is America.

　　都不是；这是在美国。

　　The firm in question is Boeing, an aircraft maker⁴.

　　上述公司是飞机制造厂商波音公司。

　　The strikes occurred in Washington state, where closed-shop rules mean that if a workforce⁵ opts⁶ to unionize,

　　罢工发生在华盛顿州，那里的统包规则意味着，如果某公司的全体职工决定成立工会，

　　all employees must join the union as a condition of employment.

　　则所有职工都必须加入该工会，这是就业条件之一。

　　The new plant that America's National Labour Relations Board saw as grounds to charge the firm with retaliation is in South Carolina,

　　美国国家劳工关系局作为起诉公司报复罪的根据的新工厂在南卡罗来纳州，

　　where right-to-work rules mean that no worker can be forced to join a union.

　　那里的就业权规则意味着，没有任何工人会被迫加入工会。

　　The case has often been cited as evidence that President Barack Obama is hostile to business.

　　本案经常被人援引,作为巴拉克?奥巴马对企业界抱有敌意的例子。

　　So businessfolk should have cheered when, on December 9th, the NLRB decided⁷ to drop its case against Boeing.

　　12月9 日，NLRB决定对波音撤诉，企业界人士应该为此欢呼。

　　But few did.

　　但几乎无人这样做。

　　For the NLRB's decision reflects a victory not for common sense, but for strong-arm tactics.

　　因为NLRB的决定并非常识的胜利，它反映了强权高压的手段。

　　It seems that the NLRB, a legacy⁸ of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, chose to drop the case only after it was asked to by representatives of the International Association of Machinists, the main Boeing union.

　　作为弗兰克林·罗斯福总统新政的遗产，NLRB似乎只是在波音公司的主要工会，国际机械师协会的代表请他们这样做之后才放弃此案的。

　　The union told the government agency that it had just struck a lucrative⁹ deal with Boeing covering its workers in Washington state.

　　该工会告知政府机构，它已与波音公司达成了一项很合算的协议，该协议与波音公司在华盛顿州的全体工人有关。

　　With the deal done, the union no longer needed the government to hold a helpful gun to Boeing's head.

　　协议一经达成，工会也就不再需要政府继续帮他们强力威胁波音了。

　　Boeing declared victory, but fooled no one.

　　波音宣布自己获胜，但这骗不过任何人。

　　For this sets a precedent¹⁰: the federal government's supposedly neutral representatives will threaten a company with serious harm if it doesn't make concessions¹¹ to unions.

　　因为此案开创了一个先例：如果某公司不对工会做出让步，本应中立的联邦政府代表就会对公司做出具有重大伤害性的威胁。

　　That gives firms a powerful incentive¹² never to set foot in union-friendly states in the first place.

　　这让公司受到强大的诱惑，从开始就绝不涉足工会强势的州。

　　Many will doubtless build their factories abroad, where the NLRB's bureaucratic¹³ bruisers can't threaten them.

　　许多公司无疑会在国外建厂，NLRB的官僚好斗者们无法在那里威胁它们。

分享到：