ESL Podcast 252 – A Workers Strike

Masako: I think we should strike. We need to force management to listen to our grievances¹.

Salvador: Hold on. I think you’re being too hasty. It’s up to our union to call a strike, not the workers.

Masako: I’m not suggesting a formal strike, but we could organize a sickout. That would send a message that we mean business.

Salvador: Yeah, but that may also get their backs up. We need to give collective bargaining a chance to get us the contract we want.

Masako: The union has been negotiating for two months and things have stalled. We need to do something to put pressure on the company to come to our terms. At the very least, we should picket² outside the building.

Salvador: We should only do that if there’s a strike. We don’t want to make employees feel like they’re crossing the picket line every time they come to work. That would be bad for morale³.

Masako: Nobody’s going to feel like a scab if they all know why we’re picketing⁴. Let’s call a meeting and see what everyone else thinks.

Salvador: You can do that if you want, but count me out. I’m going to let the union do its job.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 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》

2 picket   

n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫

参考例句：

• They marched to the factory and formed a picket.他们向工厂前进,并组成了纠察队。
• Some of the union members did not want to picket.工会的一些会员不想担任罢工纠察员。

3 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

4 picketing   

[经] 罢工工人劝阻工人上班，工人纠察线

参考例句：

• mass picketing of the factory 罢工工人集体对工厂的封锁
• "And my chaps were also there to prevent picketing! “我的人也是防着女工们要拦厂！ 来自子夜部分