韩国铁路工人罢工

　　韩国铁路工人罢工

　　SEOUL, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of rail workers and supporters rallied in downtown Seoul and marched into streets on Saturday to protest the government's move to open a new subsidiary for the state-run rail operator, which unionists fear will result in privatization and layoffs¹.

　　The labor² union led the walkout till Saturday night after the government on late Friday issued a formal license³ for a new affiliate⁴ of South Korea's state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) that operates the new high-speed line from Suseo-dong in Seoul to the port city of Busan.

　　The union said that up to 100,000 people joined the strike on the 20th day of this largest scale protest, but local police put the number at 20,000,according to the Yonhap news agency.

　　Shouting "no privatization," protesters occasionally clashed with riot police, whose number is estimated to be 13,000. There have been no reports of injuries or arrests so far.

　　The labor union denounced the transportation ministry⁵ for " abruptly⁶" issuing the license regardless of workers' strong protests, saying it is "a declaration of war" against the people.

　　KORAIL union chief Kim Myung-hwan said at a press briefing that the union will submit a lawsuit⁷ attempting to nullify the government decision.

　　The workers declared that protests will go on until Feb. 25, the first anniversary of the inauguration⁸ of President Park Geun- hye.

　　The rail operator vowed⁹ to give heavy punishment for 490 union leaders according to their involvement in the strike and downtime, according to the KORAIL's spokesman Jang Jin-bok, who added that the company will also take legal actions to seek compensation for financial damages.

　　Local police have court-issued arrest warrants for 25 union leaders involved in the strike.

　　To find ways out to control the intensified¹⁰ conflict, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won held a meeting of related cabinet members, maintained that the goal of opening the new KORAIL affiliate is to benefit people by introducing competition mechanism¹¹ to its rail industry.

　　Chung urged people to support the government's decision and hoped citizens could "endure the inconveniences for a little longer."

　　More than 50,000 workers of the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) have walked off the job since Dec. 9, affecting high- speed KTX, ITX, subway and cargo¹² train operations. KORAIL was forced to cut passenger train services by around 24 percent for the fifth day in a row on Friday. The daily amount of cargo shipments has also dropped to an average of 30 percent of the normal volume.

1 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

2 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：

• 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。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

9 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

10 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

12 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。