2006年VOA标准英语-Striking Mexican Mine Workers Return

By George Dwyer
Washington, DC
06 March 2006
 
watch Mining Workers

Mexican mine worker   
  
Thousands of miners in Mexico have begun returning to work after walking off the job last week to protest working conditions, and in support of their embattled union leader.

On Thursday, a labor¹ reform coalition² met in Mexico City to petition the United Nations International Labor Organization to intervene with the Mexican Government in securing better treatment for the country's miners.

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Calls for reform in Mexico's mining industry follow an explosion last month that killed 65 workers. Strikers demanding better conditions effectively shut down the country's two largest copper³ mines and a third facility considered the world's biggest silver producer.

Former Congresswoman Rosa Albira Garabito   
  
Reform advocates called for improved treatment for mine industry workers at a news conference in Mexico City. Former Congresswoman Rosa Albira Garabito spoke⁴ on behalf of the group. "This tragedy in the Pasta de Conchos mine has helped unveil the criminal conditions and the exploitation that these miners are experiencing."

The 250,000-member National Mining and Metal Workers Union is also demanding the government withdraw its recognition of a union official who they say does not represent their interests.

One miner said, "We will not lift this strike until the Labor Secretary and the government take their hands off the miners' union."

The Mexican Labor Ministry⁵ had declared the walkout illegal, and threatened that any workers who remained on strike could be fired.

There is an International Labor Organization convention on mine safety that has been ratified⁶ by approximately two-dozen countries, including the United States, but not several other major mining countries.

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 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。