沃尔玛在员工劳动惯例方面面临法律争端（三）

 

Wal-Mart Faces Legal Battles Over

Labor¹ Practices (Part 3)

沃尔玛在员工劳动惯例方面面临法律争端（三）

 

Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer², employing more than 1.5 million people worldwide. But, it has often been criticized for the way it treats those workers. Wal-Mart built its business by offering everyday low prices. It's a winning strategy. However, one of the ways the company has kept prices low is by paying its workers up to 20% less than other large retailers³, and forbidding its employees to unionize.

 

There is not a single union in the more than 3,000 Wal-Mart stores in the United States. Stewart Acuff, an official at America's largest labor organization, AFL-CIO says Wal-Mart has very poor label records.

 

Stewart Acuff: They have a practice and a habit of intimidating⁴ anybody who even talks about getting a union. The one place where workers voted in a union at Wal-Mart was in Jacksonville, Texas, in a meat department, and their (the company's) response to that vote was to do away with all meat departments in all their stores.

 

The company initially⁵ banned unions in its 1,300 overseas stores. But a few Wal-Marts in Canada have successfully unionized in recent years. And late in 2004, the company agreed to establish officially sanctioned unions in its 40 Chinese stores -- provided the workers request that the company form one.

What has garnered⁶ the most attention, though, are the number of complaints about Wal-Mart's treatment of its employees. AFL-CIO's Stewart Acuff says he's heard hundreds of grievances⁷.

 

Stewart Acuff: Women have come and complained about discrimination, which they eventually filed a lawsuit⁸ on. People have come and complained about working off the clock. People have come and complained about low wages, no benefits, no health care.

 

How does the company respond? Gus Whitcomb, director of Public Relations for Wal-Mart, says that some complaints lead to positive results.

 

Gus Whitcomb: A lot of people have things they bring to our attention, either through litigation or through just information purposes that they share with us, we always take a look at all criticism to see if it's valid⁹. If it is, we use it as an opportunity to make improvements to the way we do business. However, there are lots of people out there who have agendas of their own that aren't necessarily geared towards the best interests of Wal-Mart. These can be special interest groups, unions and others. And when those folks criticize us, we take a look at it and -- understanding that for the most part they have their own agenda - we go ahead and work toward helping¹⁰ our customers and associates on our own.

 

Thousands of lawsuits¹¹ have been filed against Wal-Mart, charging, among other things, refusal to pay overtime¹², employing illegal aliens, and discriminating¹³ against women and people with disabilities. A class action lawsuit that covers about 1.5 million current and former female employees is the largest workplace-bias lawsuit in U.S. history. And in March, the company agreed to pay an $11 million dollar settlement to the government for employing illegal aliens in some of its stores.

 

Wal-Mart is aware of the potential damage these lawsuits do to its public image. So, the company has established a taskforce to improve its reputation, introduced new personnel procedures, created an office of diversity, and launched a public-relations and advertising¹⁴ campaign that features its exemplary employees.

 

Analysts¹⁵ say that these moves show that the world's largest retailer is concerned about its image and its future … and is preparing to continue its phenomenal growth around the globe.

 

注释：

unionize [5ju:njEnaiz] v. 成立工会

AFL abbr. American Federation¹⁶ of Labor，美国劳工联合会

CIO abbr. Congress of Industrial Organizations，美国产业工会联合会

intimidate¹⁷ [in5timideit] v. 胁迫

Jacksonville [5dVAksEnvil] 杰克逊维尔（美国佛罗里达州东北部港市）

complain about 抱怨

on our own 凭我们自己，靠我们自己

discriminate¹⁸ against 歧视

diversity [dai5vE:siti] n. 差异

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 retailer   

n.零售商(人)

参考例句：

• What are the retailer requirements?零售商会有哪些要求呢？
• The retailer has assembled a team in Shanghai to examine the question.这家零售商在上海组建了一支团队研究这个问题。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

7 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

14 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

15 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

16 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。

17 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

18 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。