Amazon's Staten Island warehouse workers will vote on forming a union

Amazon's Staten Island warehouse¹ workers will vote on forming a union

　　Transcript²

　　Amazon workers begin voting Friday on whether to form a union at a company warehouse on Staten Island in New York. If the yes votes prevail, it would be the first Amazon union in the U.S.

　　RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

　　Thousands of Amazon workers on Staten Island in New York City begin voting today on whether to form a union. A yes vote could mean the company will have its first unionized warehouse in the U.S. Here's WNYC's Gwynne Hogan.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) I believe that...

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Chanting) I believe that we will win.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) I believe that we will win.

　　MARTIN: At a recent rally at a bus stop on Amazon's Staten Island compound, blue Prime trucks zip by the small crowd gathered, honking³ in support.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF HORN HONKING)

　　MARTIN: The organizers behind the Staten Island union drive have been at it for months, talking to workers in break rooms, phone-banking and now their first big test. Eight thousand workers are eligible⁴ to cast ballots⁵ on whether they want a union.

　　Derrick Palmer spoke⁶ to the crowd.

　　DERRICK PALMER: Amazon treats these workers like pawns⁷ in a chessboard. They treat them like pawns.

　　GWYNNE HOGAN, BYLINE⁸: They want hour-long lunch breaks rather than the 30 minutes they get now. They want higher base pay. Workers here start at $18.25 an hour.

　　PALMER: But I guarantee if we win this election, they going to them like kings and queens.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: That's right.

　　(CLAPPING)

　　HOGAN: This week's vote is the culmination⁹ of two years of organizing. A group of workers worried about COVID walked off the job in March of 2020. Some were fired soon after. One of those fired workers, Chris Smalls, is now the president of the Amazon Labor¹⁰ Union. It's a new group not affiliated¹¹ with any existing union.

　　(CLAPPING)

　　CHRIS SMALLS: Amazon says every day is day one. And it is day one for us 'cause we ain't going nowhere. We here to stay.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yeah.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah.

　　HOGAN: Amazon has met their efforts with fierce opposition¹². Last month, they had three organizers arrested on company property. The company has hung massive vote-no banners inside the warehouse. And employees are regularly pulled into mandatory¹³ training sessions where workers are dissuaded¹⁴ from voting yes, like this one.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: We're going to talk about an organization you probably have heard of, the ALU.

　　PALMER: It was recorded by an employee last November and shared with NPR. The manager is calling the Amazon Labor Union a third party.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Amazon and third parties. What's our philosophy on third parties? Our philosophy is that we believe that the right relationship between us is preferred.

　　HOGAN: An Amazon spokesperson says employees have the choice whether or not to join a union. They say employees have access to health care and a 401(k) with a company match. And Amazon denies any violations¹⁵ of federal labor laws, though attorneys for the Amazon Labor Union have filed dozens of charges against the company.

　　Outside the warehouse on a recent afternoon, workers marched to and from the bus stop across the street.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF BUS ENGINE)

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: Have a good shift. Have a good shift.

　　HOGAN: Some say they're not sure how they'll vote. But others have made up their mind. David declined to give his full name because he feared professional ramifications¹⁶. He's voting no.

　　DAVID: For what? If - everybody should just pack the boxes. You want to get paid like a manager, work to be a manager.

　　HOGAN: But Shade Clarke disagrees.

　　SHADE CLARKE: Voting yes, of course. I'm all for the union. They told me to vote no. And I don't trust any corporation telling me what to do anyway.

　　HOGAN: The election ends next Wednesday. And the vote tally¹⁷ is expected a few days after that. But workers here say this is just the beginning. Next month, a second vote is scheduled for the warehouse right across the street.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Laughter).

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #8: (Singing) What do we really want? A strong union.

　　HOGAN: For NPR News, I'm Gwynne Hogan in New York.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #8: (Singing) I said, billionaires - they got to go.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing) Billionaires - they got to go.

1 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 honking   

v.（使）发出雁叫似的声音，鸣（喇叭），按（喇叭）( honk的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flocks of honking geese flew past. 雁群嗷嗷地飞过。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

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 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。

7 pawns   

n.（国际象棋中的）兵( pawn的名词复数 )；卒；被人利用的人；小卒v.典当，抵押( pawn的第三人称单数 )；以（某事物）担保

参考例句：

• The hostages are being used as political pawns. 人质正被用作政治卒子。
• The allies would fear that they were pawns in a superpower condominium. 这个联盟担心他们会成为超级大国共管的牺牲品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 culmination   

n.顶点；最高潮

参考例句：

• The space race reached its culmination in the first moon walk.太空竞争以第一次在月球行走而达到顶峰。
• It may truly be regarded as the culmination of classical Greek geometry.这确实可以看成是古典希腊几何的登峰造级之作。

10 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。

11 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

14 dissuaded   

劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was easily dissuaded from going. 他很容易就接受劝告不走了。
• Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from his attempt. 尤利西斯想前去解救的决心不为所动。

15 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

16 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。