THIS IS AMERICA - The American Labor Movement: Past, Present

THIS IS AMERICA - The American Labor¹ Movement: Past, Present and Wal-Mart
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Monday, September 05, 2005

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Most of the world observes Labor Day on May first. In the United States, the holiday to honor workers is on the first Monday in September. For this Labor Day, our subject is the past, present and future of the American labor movement.

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VOICE ONE:

 
John Sweeney
The main labor coalition² in the United States is the A.F.L.-C.I.O. The American Federation³ of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations is fifty years old. Its president, John Sweeney, won a fourth term at its convention in July in Chicago.

That same week, however, the Teamsters union announced that it would leave the A.F.L.-C.I.O. So did the Service Employees International and the United Food and Commercial Workers. The announcements meant the loss of more than four million of the thirteen million members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.

VOICE TWO:

Andrew Stern is president of the Service Employees International Union. He says change was necessary. Mister Stern says the A.F.L.-C.I.O. cannot appeal to workers today the way another coalition can. His union is one of seven members of the Change to Win Coalition.

Mister Stern says the labor movement needs bigger unions to deal with huge international companies. And he says unions have to try harder to organize workers in service jobs.

These include low-wage jobs in areas like health care, food service, cleaning, child care and private security. Such jobs often are held by recent immigrants.

VOICE ONE:

Unions were strongest when jobs in manufacturing drove the American economy. Fifty years ago, about one out of three privately⁴ employed workers was in a union. Today, it is about one out of ten.

Dissidents in the A.F.L.-C.I.O. say it has not done enough to stop the losses. They say the federation spends too much to try to influence political campaigns. Unions have traditionally supported Democrats⁶, but now Republicans control Congress and the White House.

In nineteen sixty-two, President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat⁵, agreed to let federal employees organize. He said they could negotiate collectively, but not go on strike.

 
 
State governments followed. A few even gave public employees the right to strike. During the nineteen seventies, there were strikes by police, teachers and others.

VOICE TWO:

These days, not many workers in the United States go on strike. A strike can be very costly⁷ for all sides involved. There is not even a guarantee that if one union strikes, others will show support.

On August twentieth, the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association went on strike against Northwest Airlines. The financially troubled airline wants to cut pay and two thousand jobs.

The mechanics found little sympathy from other unions. And Northwest was able to limit flight delays. The company quickly replaced many of the strikers with other mechanics.

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VOICE ONE:

Andrew Stern at the service employees union says he still sees a bright future for the American labor movement. He says most workers who are not supervisors⁸ would join a union if they could.

Yet some workers say they fear that if they did, their jobs might be outsourced to countries with lower wages. Unions failed to stop the North American Free Trade Agreement, or the new Central American Free Trade Agreement.

Other workers say they do not need a union because their employers treat them well. In cases like that, unions might be considered victims of their own success.

VOICE TWO:

Then there is the issue of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart Stores sell thousands of things at low prices. Wal-Mart is the largest seller of general goods in the world. It is also the largest private employer, with more than one and one-half million workers.

There are no unions at Wal-Mart Stores in the United States. The company notes that workers have rejected chances to join. A spokesman says Wal-Mart tries to have "as direct a relationship as possible" with its employees. The spokesman told The Associated Press, "we try to run our business in a way that causes no real desire to have a union."

VOICE ONE:

An international alliance of about nine hundred unions discussed Wal-Mart at a meeting in late August. Union Network International held its Second World Congress in Chicago; the group is based in Switzerland. It says it will intensify⁹ its campaign to change what it calls Wal-Mart's low-wage and anti-union policies in North America.

Another target is Wal-Mart's growing international operations. The first stop is South Korea. The group announced plans to send a delegation¹⁰ there this month. The goal is to help launch an organizing campaign among about three-thousand Wal-Mart employees.

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VOICE TWO:

The labor union movement in the United States began about two hundred years ago. Skilled workers organized into local groups. Some of these groups developed into national organizations. But most did not last.

In eighteen sixty-nine, the Noble Order of the Knights¹¹ of Labor was established. The Knights tried to end child labor and the ten-hour workday. Membership grew to seven hundred thousand in the eighteen eighties. But then the Knights lost a strike against a railroad company. By nineteen hundred the union had almost disappeared.

VOICE ONE:

 
Samuel Gompers
In eighteen eighty-one, a group that later became the American Federation of Labor began in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Samuel Gompers was the first president. Gompers believed that labor should negotiate with employers. He campaigned for better working conditions for women and children.

Another important union grew in the early nineteen hundreds. The Industrial Workers of the World became known as the Wobblies. They held many demonstrations¹² and violent strikes. By the late nineteen twenties, however, the Wobblies were no longer important.

African-American activist¹³ Philip Randolph believed that unions provided the best chance for black people to earn money. In nineteen twenty-five, Randolph formed a union for workers in railroad sleeping cars. They became the Brotherhood¹⁴ of Sleeping Car Porters.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen thirty-five, several unions in the American Federation of Labor created the Committee for Industrial Organization. The purpose was to organize skilled factory workers. But committee leaders also wanted to include unskilled workers.

The federation suspended unions that took part in this kind of organizing. Then, in nineteen thirty-eight, the A.F.L. expelled the unions that formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.

Those unions formed another group. This time they called it the Congress of Industrial Organizations.

VOICE ONE:

A number of unions went on strike after World War Two ended in nineteen forty-five. The strikes led to the Taft-Hartley Act. This law placed strong new controls on unions. Labor leaders compared it to slavery.

The Taft-Hartley Act led the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to come together. The A.F.L.-C.I.O was born in nineteen fifty-five. George Meany became its president.

Two years later, the Senate investigated unions for links to organized crime and other wrongdoing. The A.F.L.-C.I.O expelled three unions.

VOICE TWO:

 
Cesar Chavez
One of the heroes of organized labor in the nineteen sixties and seventies was Cesar Chavez. His family came from Mexico. Through nonviolent protests, he campaigned for a better life for farm workers in the United States. He had been one himself.

Cesar Chavez helped establish the United Farm Workers of America. And, on September seventeenth, the union will mark the fortieth anniversary of the event that led to its creation.

The Delano grape strike and boycott¹⁵ involved Mexican-American and Filipino farm workers in California. In nineteen sixty-five, they went on strike against grape growers to protest low pay.

Cesar Chavez urged people not to buy grapes. The boycott lasted five years. It produced historic labor agreements between growers and the people employed in their fields.

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VOICE ONE:

Our Labor Day program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Jill Moss¹⁶.  I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Please join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 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。

6 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》

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句

9 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

10 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

11 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

12 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

13 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

14 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

15 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

16 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。