英伦广角 2011-11-26 公会大罢工拒不妥协

 Business as usual or the biggest walk out in decades, it all depends whether a deal can be done over the public sector¹ pensions row, that's been going on for months. With the threat of strike action on November the 30th, now imminent², the government called the union leaders into Whitehall to hear their latest offer. 

 

"We haven't heard the significant improvement of the local government offers so far, and of course, paying more, getting less, working longer, we haven't seen progress of all of those thing, we have been waiting all summer, for some basic movement, let's hope to see some today."

 

And here's what the government offered. A teacher retiring on 37,800 pounds, currently receives 19,100 a year. The latest offer will increase that to 25,200. A nurse retiring on 34,200 pounds, currently expects pension of 17,300 that will go up to 22,800. It's also agreed that there will be any changes for anyone within 10 years of retirement³. But in return, workers will have to pay around 3.2% more in annual contributions. And by 2020, the retirement age will rise to 66 years old. 

 

"At the end of these reforms, public sector pensions will still be among the very best available much better than those available to most people in the private sector, they have no chance of enjoying this pensions."

 

That's not enough for union to emerge to declare it wasn't good enough.

 

"Unions will engage intensively in the coming weeks. But unless until further real progress is made in those negotiations⁵ and acceptable offers are made, unions remain firmly committed to continue in that preparation for a planned direction on November the 30th."

 

The TUC notes that its members, the firefighters, nurses, and the teachers embodied⁶ in the statute⁷ outside this HQ are widely valued by the society they serve. But the governments piling on the pressure by making its offer public, keen to stress what's now on the table. We call someone in private sector a third of their income.

 

The Minister leading in the negotiation⁴ is insisting that there were no more room for maneuver⁸. 

 

"I would say this is the best that we're going to get. And I think that, you know, we got a balance for something which is affordable⁹ to the taxpayer¹⁰, generous to the public sector worker, and I hope that trade unions will engage in order to achieve an agreement around that."

 

Like other unions, the GMB still urging its members to vote in favor of strike. The government is now appealing directly to workers to reconsider but with ballot¹¹ results due assumed on Thursday, its offer could be too little, too late.

1 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

2 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

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 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

6 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

8 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

9 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。

10 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

11 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。