美国有线新闻 CNN 法国铁路局工人抗议政府改革计划 誓言罢工至6月底

 

AZUZ: From the Middle East, we're taking you to the European country of France, where a strike is causing severe disruptions in the nation's train services. France's state-owned rail company says about 87 percent of its high speed trains and 80 percent of its regional rail services were cancelled Tuesday. There were no trains operating to Switzerland, Spain or Italy.

This is a rolling strike. Workers plan to walk out two days a time for a total of 18 walkouts before the end of June. They're protesting changes to the country's labor¹ laws that were proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Making changes was one of his campaign promises. But while many French business leaders and economists² support his plans, many unions oppose them.

France's rail company is $56 billion in debt, according to the "Reuters" news agency. President Macron wants to turn it into a profit-making business. But employees are concerned that if that happens, they could lose job security, annual pay raises and the right to early retirement³.

And union bosses say that making France's railways more competitive could mean higher ticket prices.

In previous standoffs between unions and French presidents, the unions have prevailed.

SUBTITLE⁴: French rail workers have kicked off a three-month long strike.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Every time there's a strike here, I got the impression that people around the world are saying, why don't the French just stop whining⁵ and get on with the work?

Reforming the economy here closely follows Newton's first law of motion, inertia⁶. At the root of it, I think the French are very conservative in the classic sense. They view change with suspicion at best and hostility⁷ at worst.

And there's the concept of Droits Acquis, acquired rights. It's a concept that is deeply ingrained in French society. It's the feeling that rights once acquired should never ever be abandoned.

Despite appearances to the contrary, French unions by the members are not all that strong.

SUBTITLE: Only around 11 percent of French workers are unionized. That's roughly the same as the U.S.

BITTERMANN: The difference between France and other countries, though, is that unionized workers are found in very critical areas, transportation, energy production and the like. If they decide to go on strike, it can cause a lot of pain very quickly.

BITTERMANN: There are dozens of other attitudes which can be changed from the longstanding mistrust between employers and employees, through the traditional belief that every gain for the boss is a loss for the workers. In fact, it's a kind of thing that rightly or wrongly can leave the impression that France is a difficult place to do business.

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：

• 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 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

5 whining   

n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚

参考例句：

• That's the way with you whining, puny, pitiful players. 你们这种又爱哭、又软弱、又可怜的赌棍就是这样。
• The dog sat outside the door whining (to be let in). 那条狗坐在门外狺狺叫着（要进来）。

6 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。

7 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。