经济学人:阿根廷的工资谈判

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　　阿根廷的工资谈判

　　Class war

　　一场关于开学的战争

　　Teachers'unions go out on strike

　　教师公会举行罢工

　　“IT CAN'T be that every annual salary negotiation¹ makes it a strain just to begin the school year,” said President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner during a speech to Congress on March 1st. Yes it can.

　　“决不能让每年的薪水谈判成为开学的绊脚石”总统克里斯蒂娜·费尔南德斯·基什内尔，在三月一日国会的演讲中这样说到。但事实就是如此。

　　Strikes this week delayed the start of classes in 19 of Argentina's 24 districts, after provincial³ unions and governments failed to reach agreements about wage rises. Negotiations between the national government and federal unions, which are meant to set a minimum benchmark for the provinces, also foundered⁴. With some unions demanding more than 40% hikes, the national government and Buenos Aires's provincial government, the most influential⁵ negotiators, offered increases of just 22% and 25.5% this year respectively. The unions called the proposals “a provocation”.

　　由于省工会和政府就涨工资的问题未能达成一致，本周的罢工已使阿根廷24个行政区中，19个行政区推迟了开学时间。中央政府和联邦公会间的谈判，本打算给各省设置最低工资标准，最后也以失败告终。一些公会要求的上涨幅度超过40%，而中央政府和布宜诺斯艾利斯省政府作为最有影响力的谈判者，分别在今年只提供22%和25%的上涨幅度。公会则称这些提议为“挑衅”。

　　Tension had been expected.The teachers'unions want salary rises above Argentina's galloping⁶ inflation rate. Since the start of the year the government has devalued the Argentine peso by over 20%, causing inflation expectations to spike⁷. According to Eduardo Levy⁸ Yeyati of Elypsis, a consultancy, prices are expected to jump by 32% this year. And now that the government has started publishing more realistic data, it cannot simply pretend the problem of rising prices does not exist.

　　分歧在人意料之中。教师工会希望工资涨幅超过阿根廷奔腾的通货膨胀率。从今年年初开始，政府已经将阿根廷比索贬值超过20%，导致通胀预期异常强烈。据一家名为Elypsis的咨询公司的员工Eduardo Levy Yeyati说，今年物价预期将增长32%。政府已不能简单的把物价上涨的问题当做不存在，目前正着手出版更真实的数据。

　　The teachers'unions have a strong hand. In December provincial police squeezed 35-100% pay increases out of their employers. Public-sector employees are not fearful of losing their jobs. Strikes give unions the power to cause widespread chaos⁹.

　　教师工会得到强大的帮助。十二月份，省部门的警察已经从政府那里争取来35%到100%不等的工资涨幅。公共部门的员工并不害怕丢掉工作。罢工引起的广泛骚动，给予了公会强大的力量。

　　But the government cannot afford to concede too much ground. The negotiations with the teachers will set a precedent¹⁰ for salary talks with other unions scheduled for later this month and April. To ensure that inflation does not continue to accelerate, the authorities need to curb¹¹ real wages. Budgetary considerations also play their part. According to Economía & Regiones, a research group, if the provinces were to grant 30% raises to their 2m employees, that would double their collective fiscal¹² deficit¹³.

　　但是政府也不能做太多的让步。本月晚些时候和四月份亦有跟其他公会就薪水问题进行谈判的计划，与教师的谈判会为他们创造先例。为了确保通货膨胀不会继续发展，当局需要抑制实际工资水平。预算方面的考虑也发挥着其自身的作用。据一个名为“经济与区域”的研究小组的研究结果显示，如果省里将其200万员工的工资提高30%，其集体财政赤字将翻倍。

　　That may nonetheless be what happens. In the five jurisdictions¹⁴ that were able to reach accords, the teachers and the provinces agreed to increases of around 30%. That wouldn't do much to bring down inflation, but it would at least help keep it from skyrocketing. And it would mean the school year can begin.

　　尽管如此，该发生的还是会发生。在达成一致的五个司法管辖区，教师与省政府同意将工资提高约30%。这虽然对降低通货膨胀没什么作用，但至少能帮助通货膨胀不再继续暴涨。当然，这也意味着新学年可以开始了。译者：萧毛毛

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