美国国家公共电台 NPR Not Expecting Back Pay, Government Contractors Collect Unemployment, Dip Into Savings

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Several kinds of people are directly affected¹ by the partial government shutdown. There are federal workers who are furloughed, not being paid. There are federal workers who must work and are also not being paid. They may get back pay eventually once a deal is reached, but then there are contract workers who have little chance to collect back pay for the work they're missing. NPR's David Welna has the story.

DAVID WELNA, BYLINE²: Sixty-two-year-old Greg Seymour is an archaeologist who works in the Great Basin National Park that spreads across the Nevada-Utah border. He's employed by a company that's a contractor³ with the National Park Service, but he's not working.

GREG SEYMOUR: It's been a couple of weeks now. I actually feel stabbed in the back. It's kind of depressing, actually.

WELNA: And because he's not billing any hours, Seymour does not expect to get any back pay whenever the shutdown ends.

SEYMOUR: I was going to buy a truck - a brand new truck. That is on, possibly, permanent hold now because I don't feel like I can trust the economy - my economy, especially. So I'm just going to live with what I have.

WELNA: Seymour did not apply for unemployment insurance when he was first furloughed. He considered it a pittance⁴, but he intends to do so today.

SEYMOUR: And I'm not really sure it's worthwhile. I've never done that before, so that would be a new experience for me. And frankly⁵, I really don't want to collect unemployment. But if I have to, I will.

WELNA: And so, too, are many other federal contract employees. New York University's Paul Light is a leading expert on the federal workforce⁶. He says there's been scant⁷ public awareness⁸ of the contract workers' plight⁹ during shutdowns. That's because unlike federal employees, there is no systematic¹⁰ tracking of those contract workers. What is known is there is a lot of them.

PAUL LIGHT: I estimate that we have about 4.1 million contract employees - full-time¹¹ equivalent. So we've got a very large federal workforce with a majority of employees who are not on Uncle Sam's direct payroll¹². They are part of the indirect workforce.

WELNA: And yet, they've been directly affected.

JOE PINNETTI: I did not think the national politics would be affecting my role as an IT specialist at United States Fish and Wildlife.

WELNA: That's 33-year-old Joe Pinnetti. Normally, he gets $22 an hour working for a company in Western Massachusetts that contracts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But he has not worked at all since the shutdown began and does not expect to recover his lost income.

PINNETTI: When you're a contractor, it's understand that there's a certain amount of risk taken with your job. So I don't think that the federal government will see it as something that they need to compensate¹³ us for.

WELNA: Pinnetti lives alone, and he's already begun collecting unemployment insurance. Hopes of finishing a college degree have been put on hold by the shutdown.

PINNETTI: It's going to be rough. I'm digging deep into my savings¹⁴ right now. I would remain solvent¹⁵ for about two more months. The problem is I'm already having to sacrifice things to do so. I mean, this showdown has costs. So I might have to take a semester off from school to rebuild my savings.

WELNA: Pinnetti expects to still have a job whenever the shutdown ends, but NYU's Light says it's a different matter for those employed by smaller contractors¹⁶.

LIGHT: And that's where you would expect to see some pretty significant impacts of even a two-week shutdown - even a week shutdown because the smaller the business, the more likely it is to lay off workers at the first sign that there might be a delay in payment.

WELNA: Take, for example, Celeste Voigt.

CELESTE VOIGT: I have four people who, besides myself, are out of work.

WELNA: Voigt, who's legally blind, has a vending¹⁷ concession¹⁸ to sell hot meals at two federal workplaces in South Dakota. She and all four of her employees have been idled by the shutdown. And she fears they'll be forced to find work elsewhere. Congress, she says, should do something about that.

VOIGT: I think they should reimburse¹⁹ me as a business so that I can pay my employees because I cannot buy insurance, like anybody else, if - this is not a natural disaster. It isn't because I am not responsible enough to run a business or I've done something wrong. It's like I'm getting punished because I'm working, trying to help provide for the government workers that are in the building.

WELNA: According to President Trump²⁰, people like Celeste Voigt, who've been idled by the shutdown, may be getting something else - a wall along the Mexican border.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Many of those workers have said to me and communicated stay out until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall.

VOIGT: I don't know who he's talking to (laughter). So what am I going to say about that?

WELNA: Again, small federal contractor Celeste Voigt.

VOIGT: Apparently²¹ he doesn't understand anytime there's a government shutdown, whatever the reason, it's not appropriate. I guess we're holding ourselves hostage. That's how I feel (laughter).

WELNA: By we, Voigt says she means the entire nation. But she and the thousands of other furloughed federal contractors may be paying the greatest price as this shutdown continues. David Welna, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF ABE'S "ASGARD")

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 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。

3 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

4 pittance   

n.微薄的薪水，少量

参考例句：

• Her secretaries work tirelessly for a pittance.她的秘书们为一点微薄的工资不知疲倦地工作。
• The widow must live on her slender pittance.那寡妇只能靠自己微薄的收入过活。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

7 scant   

adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略

参考例句：

• Don't scant the butter when you make a cake.做糕饼时不要吝惜奶油。
• Many mothers pay scant attention to their own needs when their children are small.孩子们小的时候，许多母亲都忽视自己的需求。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

10 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

11 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

12 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

13 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

14 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

15 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

16 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 vending   

v.出售（尤指土地等财产）( vend的现在分词 )；（尤指在公共场所）贩卖；发表（意见，言论）；声明

参考例句：

• Why Are You Banging on the Vending Machine? 你为什么敲打这台自动售货机？ 来自朗文快捷英语教程 2
• Coca-Cola had to adapt almost 300,000 vending machines to accept the new coins. 可口可乐公司必须使将近三十万台自动贩卖机接受新货币。 来自超越目标英语 第5册

18 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

19 reimburse   

v.补偿，付还

参考例句：

• We'll reimburse you for your travelling expenses.我们将付还你旅费。
• The funds are supposed to reimburse policyholders in the event of insurer failure.这项基金将在保险公司不能偿付的情况下对投保人进行赔付。

20 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

21 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。