2022年经济学人 纽约的门卫们罢工

United States

美国版块

Dust-up with doormen

和门卫吵架

The white gloves stay on

一直戴着白手套

New York’s well-to-do almost had to take out their own rubbish

纽约的富人几乎不得不自己倒垃圾

Few things are as quintessentially New York as its doormen.

很少有东西能像门卫那样，成为纽约的典型代表。

Yes, other places have concierges².

是的，其他地方也有门卫。

But that is like saying you can get a bagel anywhere.

但就像你在任何地方都能买到百吉饼。

New York doormen are special.

而纽约的门卫很特别。

Residents often say their doormen are like family.

居民们经常说，他们的门卫就像家人一样。

They’re trusted, discreet³ and act as gatekeepers.

他们是值得信任，行事谨慎的门卫。

They watch out for the kids and the safety of residents.

他们密切注意孩子和居民的安全。

“We’re all part of the same team,” says one doorman.

“我们都是一个团队的一员，”一名门卫说。

That team was divided during recent contract negotiations⁴.

在最近的合同谈判中，该团队出现了分歧。

The doormen’s union, Service Employees International’s Local 32bj, which represents some 30,000 doormen and other building staff, voted on April 13th to strike.

4月13日，代表了大约3万名门卫和楼里的其他工作人员的门卫联盟--32BJ-SEIU工会投票决定罢工。

But on April 19th, a day before the contract expired, the two sides--the union and about 3,000 residential-building owners represented by the Realty Advisory⁵ Board on Labour Relations--reached an agreement.

但在4月19日，也就是合同到期的前一天，双方--32BJ-SEIU工会和房地产劳资关系咨询委员会为代表的约3000名业主--达成了一项协议。

The union got the pay increase it wanted, and it keeps fully⁶ employer-paid health care.

工会得到了它想要的加薪，并保留了雇主全额支付医疗的权益。

Kyle Bragg, head of the union, says his members have had a tough two years.

工会主席凯尔·布拉格表示，他的成员们度过了艰难的两年。

Doormen (and women) went to work when residents stayed at home or fled the city.

当居民呆在家里或逃离城市时，门卫（包括女性门卫）就会去工作。

About 40 New York doormen died from covid-19.

大约40名纽约门卫死于新冠肺炎。

Covid protocols⁷ meant even more cleaning.

新冠协议意味着更多的清洁工作。

When residents fell ill doormen were sometimes the only people making sure they got fed.

当居民生病时，门卫有时是唯一确保他们有饭吃的人。

Deliveries increased as more people relied on online shopping and food delivery.

随着越来越多的人依赖网购和外卖，送货量增加了。

“We make sure everything that they need is available for them,” says Crystalann Johnson, who works in a 60-storey building in midtown.

在市中心一栋60层的大楼里工作的克里斯特兰·约翰逊说：“我们要确保他们所需要的一切都得到满足。”

The pandemic affected⁸ management, too.

疫情也影响了管理。

Many ground-floor tenants⁹, such as retailers¹⁰ and restaurants, closed and did not reopen, meaning loss of revenue.

许多底商，如零售商和餐馆，都关闭了，没有重新开业，这意味着收入损失。

The union was sceptical: Manhattan rent is at a record high, and residential-property sales had their strongest-ever first quarter, with purchases of $7.3bn.

工会对此表示怀疑：曼哈顿的租金创历史新高，第一季度住宅物业销售也达到了有史以来最强劲的水平，成交额达73亿美元。

A doorman adds 10-15% to an apartment’s value, says Jonathan Miller¹¹ of Miller Samuel, an appraisal¹² firm.

一家名为Miller Samuel的评估公司的乔纳森·米勒说，门卫会使一套公寓的价值增加10-15%。

In a way, doormen always had the support of management--in the form of the residents.

在某种程度上，门卫总是得到管理部门的支持--以居民的形式。

Some doormen even helped them prepare for a possible walkout, showing them where rubbish gets recycled and how to work the lifts.

一些门卫甚至帮助他们为可能的罢工做准备，向居民展示垃圾在哪里回收以及如何使用电梯。

It is unusual, says Peter Bearman of Columbia University, author of “Doormen”, which examines that curious relationship.

《寻找门卫 ：一个隐蔽的社交世界》一书的作者、哥伦比亚大学的彼得·比尔曼说，这很不寻常，该书探讨了这种奇怪的关系。

“There is no other situation in which you will see that kind of dynamics¹³.

“在其他情况下，你不会看到这种动态。

The tenants become the scabs, essentially¹, replacing the labour of the doorman.

从本质上讲，房客成了“工贼”，取代了门卫的劳动。

But it’s done with such grace and mutual¹⁴ support.”

但它是在非常优雅和相互支持的情况下完成的。

Happily for the scabs and the doormen, the strike was averted¹⁵.

令房客和门卫庆幸的是，罢工得以避免。

The last one was in 1991 and lasted for 12 days.

上一次罢工是在1991年，持续了12天。

A strike in 2022 would have had a bigger impact because deliveries have changed from a luxury to a necessity for many households: food-delivery workers and couriers might not have wanted to cross picket¹⁶ lines.

2022年的罢工会产生更大的影响，因为对许多家庭来说，外卖已经从奢侈品变成了必需品：送餐员和快递员可能不想越过罢工纠察线。

And perish the thought that residents would have to open their own doors and hail their own cabs.

居民们不得不自己开门、自己叫出租车的情况也就避免了。

1 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

2 concierges   

n.看门人，门房( concierge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

3 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

4 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

5 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

10 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

11 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

12 appraisal   

n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估

参考例句：

• What's your appraisal of the situation?你对局势是如何评估的？
• We need to make a proper appraisal of his work.对于他的工作我们需要做出适当的评价。

13 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

14 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

15 averted   

防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• A disaster was narrowly averted. 及时防止了一场灾难。
• Thanks to her skilful handling of the affair, the problem was averted. 多亏她对事情处理得巧妙，才避免了麻烦。

16 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。