ESL Podcast 880 – Forming a Union

 　　Norma: What is this?

 

　　Jimmy: It’s a flyer for a meeting I’ve called to talk about forming a labor¹ union here.

 

　　Norma: Here? Do you think the management will let us?

 

　　Jimmy: They can’t stop us. We’re working longer and longer hours and we need to demand higher pay. We also need better work conditions and a say in hiring and firing procedures. All of us need to band together to have better bargaining power.

 

　　Norma: I don’t know. I want to be better paid and to have job security like everybody else, but I’m afraid of what will happen when we start agitating².

 

　　Jimmy: I’ll tell you what will happen: The management will finally hear what we have to say. With collective bargaining, the rank and file will get what we deserve, at long last. Are you in or out?

 

　　Norma: I’ll have to think about it.

 

　　Jimmy: He who hesitates is lost.

 

　　Norma: Yes, but I was always taught to look before I leap.

 

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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 agitating   

搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论

参考例句：

• political groups agitating for social change 鼓吹社会变革的政治团体
• They are agitating to assert autonomy. 他们正在鼓吹实行自治。