世界节假日博览 第68期:同工同酬日

 Equal Pay Day is an American day of awareness¹ to highlight the fact that American men earn more than women for doing the same jobs. It is held on April 15 because this is how far into a new year that a woman must work to earn what a man earned in the previous year. Statistics released in 2008 showed that women earned on average 77.8 percent of their male colleagues' earnings². Asian American women did a little better than this. For African American and Hispanic women, the figure was lower. This is happening in America today, even though equal pay was passed into law in 1963. Many women see the equality as doubly unfair because statistics also show that American women are better educated than men.

美国同工同酬日是让人们认识到在同等工作内容下，男性工资要高于女性。之所以设立在4月15日是因为，女性必须要工作到这一天才能赶上男性上一年的工资。2008年的数据表明，女性的平均工资为男同事的77.8%。亚裔女性情况稍好。对于非洲和西班牙裔女性来讲，数据更低。尽管美国于1963年通过了《平等工资法案》，但美国的不平等现象依然存在。许多女性认为这样的平等极为不公，有数据表明，美国女性的受教育程度要高于男性。

On Equal Pay Day, thousands of business and professional women and hundreds of civil rights and labour organizations take part in fair pay campaigns. They hold events across America demanding a fair wage. A lot of the campaigning is coordinated³ by the National Committee on Pay Equity⁴, which started Equal Pay Day in 1996. Eula Tate of the Coalition⁵ of Labor⁶ Union Women says equal pay is not just a woman's issue. If women are only paid 77 cents when they should get a dollar, their family suffers. Working families lose about $200 billion in income every year because of this pay discrimination, she said. Campaigners usually wear red ribbons on this day as a symbol of how women and minorities are “in the red” with their pay.

在同工同酬日，数千名商界和职场女性，数百家民权和劳工组织会参加同酬活动。他们在全美举办活动要求平等待遇。许多活动都是与国家同酬委员会合办，并于1996年起开展“同工同酬日”。妇女工会联盟的欧拉·塔特认为，平等工资不只是女性问题。如果女性在应该获得1美元的情况下获得了77美分，那么她们的家庭会遭受痛苦。由于待遇不公，每年他们将会损失2千亿美元收入。在这一天，活动人士会佩戴红丝带，表达女性和少数民族员工入不敷出的艰苦状况。

1.labour organization 劳工组织

例句:The Slovak Productivity Centre is an independent foundation established by the International Labour Organization.

斯洛伐克生产力中心是国际劳工组织设立的独立基金会。

2.in the red 亏损

例句:The enterprise which has been operating in the red has decided⁷ to swith to other production.

那家亏损企业决定转产。

3.take part in 参加

例句:When you take part in any performance, you get out as much as you put in.

你参加任何活动，你投入多少力量就会得到多少收获。

4.a lot of 许多

例句:I will not burden you with a lot of questions.

我不会提许多问题来烦扰你的。

1 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。

2 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

3 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 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。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。