奥巴马每周电视讲话：总统阐释劳工节传承的财富（01）

Hi everybody. Before you fire up the barbecue for the long weekend, I want to talk a little bit about the reason we get to celebrate Labor¹ Day

嗨，大家。在你为周末长假制作烧烤之前，我想谈谈我们庆祝劳工节的原由，

and that's the labor movement that helped build this country and our middle class.

这是劳工运动帮助国家建设并壮大了中产阶级。

For generations, every time the economy changed,

一代又一代，每一次经济都发生了变化，

hardworking Americans marched and organized and joined unions to demand not simply a bigger paycheck for themselves,

勤劳的美国人游行并组织起来，参加工会，诉求不仅仅是为了提高自己的工资，

but better conditions and more security for the folks working next to them, too.

还有为他们身边的工人改善工作条件和安全环境。

Their efforts are why we can enjoy things like the 40-hour workweek, overtime² pay, and a minimum wage.

他们争取的是我们应该享有诸如每周工作40 小时，加班工资和最低工资的权益。

Their efforts are why we can depend on health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, and retirement³ plans.

他们争取的是我们可以依靠健康保险，社会保障，医疗保险和退休计划。

All of that progress is stamped with the union label.

所有的进步都打上了工会的烙印。

All of that progress was fueled with a simple belief

所有这些进步都有一个简单的信念：

that our economy works better when it works for everybody.

让所有人受益的工作才能使国家经济发展得更好。

That's the spirit that's made the progress of these past seven and a half years possible.

这是一种精神，它使过去的七年半的发展成为可能。

We've rescued our economy from another depression, cut our unemployment rate in half, and unleashed⁴ the longest string of total job growth on record.

我们已经从另一个萧条中拯救了我们的经济，失业率降低了一半，并创下就业总量增长持续时间最长的记录。

And we've focused on making sure that the gains of a growing economy don't just flow to a few at the top, but to everybody.

我们一直专注于确保经济增长的效益不只是流向少数最富有者，而是面向每个人。

That's why we took action to help millions of workers finally collect the overtime pay they've earned.

因此我们采取行动来帮助数百万的工人，终于争取到他们应有的加班工资。

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 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》