ECONOMICS REPORT - Farm Workers Union Celebrates 40th Annive

ECONOMICS REPORT - Farm Workers Union Celebrates 40th Anniversary of Grape Strike
By Jerilyn Watson

Broadcast: Friday, September 30, 2005

I'm Jim Tedder¹ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

The United Farm Workers of America union recently observed the fortieth anniversary of a historic strike. About five hundred people attended the observance at a former union headquarters near Delano (duh-LAY-no), California. The strike by Filipino and Mexican-American field workers led to a nationwide boycott² of table grapes.

In nineteen sixty-five, union organizer Cesar Chavez led a march from Delano to the state capital, Sacramento. The march helped awaken³ the public to the low pay and poor treatment of the workers.

The boycott followed. It lasted five years. Finally, in nineteen seventy, most of the grape growers in the area agreed to recognize the union.

Union membership was about eighty thousand during the nineteen seventies. Today it is reported at twenty-seven thousand.

The United Farm Workers recently held what the union called its first major nationwide boycott in more than twenty years. The three-month action targeted the winemaker Gallo. It ended with a new labor⁴ agreement for three hundred ten workers in Sonoma County.

Earlier, though, workers at the Giumarra Vineyards near Bakersfield appeared to reject the union. The union has disputed enough ballots⁵ to delay final results temporarily. Yet it had expected a big victory.

Union officials say supervisors⁶ threatened the loss of jobs and company housing if workers voted to join the union. Giumarra's vice⁷ president dismissed the accusations⁸.

Twelve years after the death of Cesar Chavez, life remains⁹ a struggle for many farm workers. The fact that many arrive illegally from Mexico does not help the situation. But California has taken some steps to make life at least a little easier.

In August, state officials approved emergency rules to prevent heat illness. Temperatures in the Central Valley often rise above thirty-eight Celsius¹⁰. The heat may have led to the deaths of several farm workers in the past year.

The new rules require employers to provide about one liter of drinking water per worker per hour. Employers must also provide an area where workers can go for at least five minutes to recover from the heat. State legislators will consider more extensive measures.

Along with Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta organized farm workers. She is seventy-five years old now. Dolores Huerta no longer works with the United Farm Workers union, but she is still an activist¹¹.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Jim Tedder.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

4 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。

5 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

11 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。