workers' rights

正文

P&O Ferries scandal must be turning point for workers' rights, says TUC

英国工会联盟表示，P&O 渡轮公司丑闻必须成为保护劳工权益的转折点

Ministers have serious questions to answer on the growing scandal at P&O Ferries and must make it a catalyst to improve workers' rights, the Trades Union Congress said on Sunday.

英国工会联盟于周日表示，关于持续发酵的 P&O 渡轮公司丑闻，英国各部大臣有一些严肃的问题需要回答，并且他们必须让这一事件成为改善劳工权益的催化剂。

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The TUC accused the government of sitting on its hands and failing to protect workers after P&O sacked 800 staff on Thursday with a plan to replace them with cheaper agency workers. It has emerged that ministers were informed in advance about the mass redundancies.

P&O 于周四解雇了 800 名员工，并计划以更廉价的第三方派遣员工取而代之。此后，工会联盟指责称，政府对此事袖手旁观，未能给予劳工保护。有消息称，一些大臣在事前已经得知这次大规模裁员将会发生。

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Employment lawyers reacted with surprise to the company's move to sack 800 seafarers out of the blue, and said that P&O Ferries may have broken several laws, potentially leaving it open to claims of unfair dismissal.

对于这家公司出乎意料地解雇了 800 名船员的举措，就业律师表示了惊讶。他们称，P&O 渡轮公司可能违反了几项法律，因而可能遭受不公平解雇的指控。

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Over the weekend, angry protests were held at ports across the UK. Trade union leaders and politicians joined sacked P&O Ferries workers in Dover, Hull, Liverpool and Larne amid growing rage over the company's decision.

周末期间，愤怒的抗议者在英国各地的港口举行了抗议活动。在多佛、赫尔、利物浦和拉恩，工会领袖和政界人士加入了被解雇的 P&O 渡轮公司员工的行列，人们对该公司的决定感到愈发愤怒。

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P&O Ferries has previously been accused of hiring workers for as little as £1.83 an hour. Union officials have said P&O may be able to cut its wage bill by up to half by using agency workers instead of existing staff.

P&O 渡轮公司此前曾被指控用 1.83 英镑的低时薪雇佣员工。工会干部表示，P&O 通过用第三方派遣员工替代现有员工，可能减少高达一半的薪资支出。

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A spokesperson for P&O Ferries said it had taken the decision to make 800 staff redundant "as a last resort and only after full consideration of all other options", after it made a £100m loss.

P&O 渡轮公司的一位发言人表示，公司在亏损 1 亿英镑后，“作为最后手段，在充分考虑了其他所有选项之后才万不得已”决定解雇 800 名员工。

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"Ultimately, we concluded that the business wouldn't survive without fundamentally changed crewing arrangements, which in turn would inevitably result in redundancies," they said.

他们表示：“最终，我们得出的结论是，如果不从根本上改变船员的配备安排，这一业务就无法维持下去，而这就不可避免地导致了裁员。”

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主编：Jojo、Abby

品控：Jojo

审核：Jack

Photo Credit:

AFP / Paul ELLIS

AFP / Hollie Adams

AFP / Hollie Adams

重点词汇

ferry

/ˈfer.i/

n. 渡船

词性拓展：ferry（v. 渡运，摆渡）

例句：The fisherman ferries the children to and from school in a boat.（渔夫用船接送孩子上下学。）

scandal

/ˈskæn.dəl/

n. 丑闻

搭配短语：a tax evasion scandal（一起逃税丑闻）

turning point

转折点，转机

例句：It was a turning point in his career.

catalyst

/ˈkæt̬.əl.ɪst/

n. 促成变化的人（或物）；催化剂

例句：They hope his election will act as a catalyst for reform.

sit on one's hands

不采取行动；不鼓掌

例句：Why don't you actually help us fix the issue, instead of just sitting on your hands and complaining?

sack

/sæk/

v. 解雇，开除

词性拓展：sack（n. 麻袋）

例句：They couldn't sack me – I'd done nothing wrong.

redundancy

/rɪˈdʌn.dən.si/

n. 裁员，解雇；多余

相关词汇：redundant（adj. 多余的，过剩的；被裁员的，被解雇的）

短语：make sb. redundant（解雇某人）

例句：Seventy factory workers were made redundant.

例句：The car giant is expected to announce around 5,000 redundancies.（这一汽车巨头预计将宣布裁员 5000 人左右。）

seafarer

/ˈsiˌfer.ɚ/

n. 船员，海员

out of the blue

出乎意料地，突然地

相关短语：a bolt out of the blue（意外事件或消息）

相关词汇：bolt（n. 闪电，霹雳）

英文释义：a sudden and unexpected event or piece of news

例句：The decision came out of the blue.

dismissal

/dɪˈsmɪs.əl/

n. 解雇

词义辨析：dismissal, redundancy

dismissal 一般是因为员工能力不够、行为不当等等，如果员工本身并没有做错什么就被解雇，就有可能被指控是 unfair dismissal（不公平解雇）。而 redundancy 是指劳动力过剩或是为了节省开支才进行的裁员。

amid

/əˈmɪd/

prep. 在……气氛中，在……背景下

英文释义：in an atmosphere or against a background of

例句：European gas prices have almost trebled amid panic that pipelines from the east will be blown up or starved of supply.（由于人们担心东部的天然气管道将被炸毁，或者天然气供应会出现短缺，欧洲的天然气价格几乎涨到了原来的三倍。）

rage

/reɪdʒ/

n. 盛怒，狂怒

英文释义：violent uncontrollable anger

搭配短语：to fly into a rage（勃然大怒）

词性拓展：rage（v. 发怒）

例句：He was sorry he had raged at her earlier.

resort

/rɪˈzɔːrt/

n.（对某种手段的）诉诸，采取

搭配短语：last resort（最后手段）

例句：Next time there's a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!（下次再有舞会，你就赶在别人之前邀请我，别等到没办法了才想到我！）

词性拓展：resort（v. 诉诸（不好的事物））

搭配短语：resort to sth.

例句：They fear that extremists may resort to violence.（他们担心极端分子会诉诸暴力。）

crew

/kruː/

v. 配备船员（或机组人员）

词性拓展：crew（n. 全体船员；全体机务人员）

例句：The aircraft had a crew of nine.

用法补充：crew 表示的是一个集体，不能单指一个船员或者一个机组人员。也就是说，一条船只有一个 crew，两条船才有两个 crews。

例句：Normally the boat is crewed by 5 people.

in turn

接着，相应地；依次，轮流

英文释义：one after the other

例句：We'll cross the bridge in turn.（我们会挨个过桥。）

英文释义：as a result of something

例句：Their future wages increase, which in turn strengthens their families' security.（她们未来的薪水提高，她们的家庭就会更有保障。）

inevitably

/ˌɪnˈev.ə.t̬ə.bli/

adv. 不可避免地

相关词汇：inevitabe（adj. 不可避免的，必然发生的）

反义词：evitable（adj. 可以避免的）

例句：Death is inevitable; it comes to everyone.

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