美国国家公共电台 NPR The Future Of Benefits: A New York Program Might Provide A Model

The Future Of Benefits: A New York Program Might Provide A Model

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Americans with health or pension benefits commonly get them through their employers. So what to do now that so many people have no steady employer? We have reported on this program that about 20 percent of American workers are contractors². The people who pay them have no long-term obligations to them, and that is creating demand for some benefits system of some kind that is not tied to a single employer. NPR's Yuki Noguchi examined one possible model, a program targeted at drivers for hire in New York.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE³: Somehow, in the gridlock of Midtown Manhattan, I locate the driver I've arranged to meet.

Are you Howard?

HOUCHANG GOLZARI: Yes, ma'am.

NOGUCHI: Hi. I'm Yuki.

GOLZARI: Nice to see you.

NOGUCHI: His real name is Houchang Golzari, an Iranian immigrant in his 70s. As his Town Car crawls through traffic, Golzari explains he'd worked as a programmer in the medical industry three decades ago. That was the last time he received health care, unemployment insurance and other benefits through an employer.

GOLZARI: They paid me for everything, but then they don't need you. They say, bye, get out.

NOGUCHI: Now as a contractor¹, Golzari pays his own way. Then last February an uninsured driver hit him from behind, damaging his car, his neck and back.

Does your back and neck still hurt?

GOLZARI: Not now, thanks God to a very nice, beautiful physical therapy which I had.

NOGUCHI: And thanks also to The Black Car Fund, a state-mandated⁴ worker's compensation insurance program that covers medical care and lost wages for drivers injured on the job. Golzari doesn't fret⁵ over the medical bills that arrive in the mail.

GOLZARI: It's not my problem. I have been covered, which I am very happy. I look at is as my benefits.

NOGUCHI: The Black Car Fund is, for now, unique to New York state, whose legislature created it in 1999. It's funded by a 2.5 percent consumer surcharge on each ride, and it covers about 125,000 drivers statewide, whether they're contractors for Uber, Lyft or more traditional taxi or limousine⁶ services. Golzari says he thinks this system should exist everywhere for all kinds of contract workers.

GOLZARI: I think they should have it all over the country because this is a good thing.

NOGUCHI: He's not alone. Other states, notably⁷ Washington and New Jersey⁸, are considering bills mandating⁹ the collection of fees for all kinds of freelance services which would then be used to pay for those workers' benefits. Setting up such a system means wrestling with the logistical challenges - who pays into it, and how? Who's covered, and for what? Many experts believe The Black Car Fund offers some answers.

ALASTAIR FITZPAYNE: It's really a first of its kind, innovative¹⁰ model.

NOGUCHI: Alastair Fitzpayne is director of the Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative. He says the fund's effectiveness stems from the fact that it is mandated by the state and that it enjoys the taxi and limousine industry support as a fair, equitable¹¹ way to solve a problem for the workers. Ira Goldstein is chief executive of The Black Car Fund.

IRA GOLDSTEIN: I think it's absolutely the right model. I think because it's working on a surcharge, it works for the part-time driver. It can be used to expand to additional benefits, as well.

NOGUCHI: In addition to workers' compensation, the fund offers death benefits. It pays drivers to attend defensive¹² driving and wellness seminars, and it plans to offer vision care and telemedicine to encourage drivers to get checkups. The size of New York's driver population has ballooned in recent years, Goldstein says, but the changes have not affected¹³ the fund's fiscal¹⁴ efficiency. The nonprofit fund raised its rates only once in 18 years. It is the rare government program that, because of changes in how people work, has become increasingly relevant, and now lawmakers and industry leaders often come to Goldstein seeking advice.

GOLDSTEIN: I think in that way it was so revolutionary and ahead of its time, really, when you think about it that this was 2000 and now we're talking about 2018, and it's now a national issue and it's a national problem that people are trying to find a resolution to.

NOGUCHI: Democratic Congresswoman Suzan DelBene of Washington State agrees.

SUZAN DELBENE: Our economy is changing, and in many cases our laws and policies have not caught up with the way the economy works today, let alone where it's headed towards the future.

NOGUCHI: DelBene, along with Virginia Democrat¹⁵ Mark Warner in the Senate, introduced a proposal to give grants to cities, states and nonprofits devising new ways of delivering benefits. DelBene says many workers are falling through the cracks and on to public assistance.

DELBENE: The reason that we've heard from mayors and cities and states is because they're already feeling some of those pressures and understand how important this issue is today and how much more important it's going to be going forward.

NOGUCHI: Eventually, she says, she hopes there will be many models like The Black Car Fund but that serve many more workers. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, New York.

1 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

2 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

5 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

6 limousine   

n.豪华轿车

参考例句：

• A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.司机为这个高贵的女士打开了豪华轿车的车门。
• We arrived in fine style in a hired limousine.我们很气派地乘坐出租的豪华汽车到达那里。

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 mandating   

托管（mandate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Current requirements mandating that committees keep minutes are too general. 目前对委员会要保持详细记录的指令性要求，还是太过一般化了。
• Mandating that workers who quit without permission forfeit a month's wages. 规定工人私自离岗将受到罚没一个月工资的处罚。

10 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

11 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。

12 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

15 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。