美国国家公共电台 NPR Labor Movement Faces Challenges Amid Growing Public Support For Unions

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Unions in this country face big challenges. There's a tougher environment for organizing and a White House that has been anything but labor¹-friendly so far. That's despite promises to bring back manufacturing jobs. NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE²: Ask AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka about the climate for unions on this Labor Day weekend, and he starts with something positive - a new Gallup poll showing public support for unions at its highest point since 2003.

RICHARD TRUMKA: There's much more excitement about unions. Over 61 percent of the people in the country support unions.

GONYEA: Less than a decade ago, fewer than half of Americans voiced such support. Trumka says the improvement is because people recognize that unions are fighting for workers in an economy where most of the rules are controlled by corporate³ interests.

Last year's presidential election was a bad one for the labor movement. Democrat⁴ Hillary Clinton carried the votes of union households but by a far smaller margin⁵ than President Obama did four years earlier. That shift had an impact in battleground states. Trump⁶ won over some of those voters with promises to bring back manufacturing jobs and his constant criticism of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA.

TRUMKA: His promises in the campaign haven't matched up with what he's done.

GONYEA: Richard Trumka says instead there's been an assault on regulations that protect workers in so many ways.

TRUMKA: Health and Safety regulations like protecting us from beryllium and silica, overtime⁷ regulations that would've brought overtime to 4 or 5 million people, consumer protection regulations, regulations on Wall Street - he's done away with a number of those things.

GONYEA: The challenge labor faces now is making the case against Trump with the membership. The AFL-CIO president says the only way to do it is with the facts.

David Cohen is a political scientist at the University of Akron. He had a close-up view of Trump's success in the northeast section of Ohio where closed steel mills are a reminder⁸ of the decline in manufacturing jobs.

DAVID COHEN: A lot of these union people that went over to vote for Trump - it's really unclear whether these are loyal Trump voters or whether these are one-time Trump voters who decided⁹ to give somebody else a chance.

GONYEA: Many of those voters were simply unhappy with Hillary Clinton. Cohen says Democrats¹⁰ need candidates who can win those voters back at all levels. Even so, he says there are obstacles the labor movement faces, including that a majority of states now also have right-to-work laws, allowing workers to opt¹¹ out of joining the union and paying regular dues in a union-represented workplace.

COHEN: That is a problem because in order for unions to be strong across the country or within the various states, they need numbers. They need as many people in their ranks as possible.

GONYEA: The AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka acknowledges the challenge but says President Trump's own actions, from calls for deep tax cuts for big corporations to the attacks on the Affordable¹² Care Act to his response to the recent white supremacist march and violence in Charlottesville, all help make the case. Don Gonyea, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF FOUR TET'S "CIRCLING")

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 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

4 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

5 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

8 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

12 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。