商业周刊:工会组织力量虚弱, 雇员自发组织罢工(1)（在线收听）

Traditional unions may be stymied,but workers and activists are finding new ways to organize By Janet Paskin

传统工会组织的力量也许受到阻碍，但雇员和积极分子们正在寻求新途径组织罢工 珍妮特·帕斯金报道

According to the official records, U.S. workers went on strike seven times during 2017.

据美国官方记录，2017年全国发生七次雇员罢工事件。

That's a particular nadir in the long decline of organized labor:

劳工组织效力衰退进入低谷期：

the second-fewest work stoppages recorded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics since the agency started keeping track in the 1940s.

自美国劳工统计局20世纪40年代有记载以来，这一年的罢工次数位列倒数第二。

There was little reason to believe 2018 would be different, especially with the U.S. Supreme Court, in two decisions,

2018年情况好转的可能性依然渺茫，特别是美国最高法院通过的两项决策，

making it harder for public employees unions to fund themselves and restricting workers' rights to bring class actions.

使得政府雇员工会更难为本组织提供资金，同时决策还限制政府雇员提起集体诉讼的权利。

The power of employers appeared to be almost limitless. The unions were, if not busted, then certainly on the verge.

雇主的权力则似乎无限扩延，政府雇员工会面临解散的危机。

Aggrieved workers, however, took matters into their own hands, using social media and other tech tools to enhance their campaigns.

然而，愤愤不平的员工们利用社交媒体和其他技术手段提升罢工势头，掌控了事态进展。

From industry walkouts to wildcat teachers' strikes, they made very public demands of their employers.

从行业联合罢工到教师们自发组织的罢工活动，他们公开对雇主提出各种要求。

The official number of major work stoppages recorded by the BLS in 2018 nearly tripled, to 20.

2018年，美国劳工统计局记载的官方罢工数量几乎增长两倍，达到20次。

Off the picket line, workers also won a wide range of concessions.

雇员们也赢得来自雇主方面的各种让步。

Facing employee pressure, Google and McKinsey & Co. dropped contracts for government work employees found objectionable;

面对员工施加的压力，谷歌和麦肯锡公司均认为政府雇员劳动合同存在争议，故而放弃签约；

thousands of dismissed Toys "R" Us workers got a severance fund; and Starbucks Corp. expanded parental and sick leave policies.

玩具反斗城公司数千名被解雇的员工获得了遣散费；星巴克公司则延长了员工的产病假政策。

In many cases, workers and their advocates bypassed their employers entirely.

在很多情况下，工人和他们的拥护者会完全地忽视他们的雇主。

Under continued pressure, the American Hotel & Lodging Association reversed its opposition to panic buttons

在持续的压力下，美国酒店住宿协会改变了其反对使用紧急按钮的立场，

to protect housekeepers from sexual harassment by guests.

以保护管家免受客人的性骚扰。

Model Alliance, an advocacy group for models, persuaded the organizers of New York Fashion Week to provide private changing areas.

模特权益倡导组织模特联盟（Model Alliance）劝说纽约时装周的组织者为模特提供私人更衣室。

"Workers aren't waiting for the traditional forms of organizing, as provided under labor law," says Tom Kochan,

汤姆·科尚是麻省理工斯隆管理学院工作与就业研究所的联席所长，

co-director of the MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research.

他表示：“工人们想要的不是劳动法规定的传统组织形式。”

"They're looking for new options, whether that's Google employees on a one-day walkout or workers filing online petitions with their management

“无论是谷歌的员工罢工一天，还是员工在网上向管理层提交从日程安排到福利的各种请愿书，

about everything from scheduling to fringe benefits.”

他们都在寻找新的选择。”

Kochan has been studying what academics call "worker voice"—how much influence employees feel they have over their working conditions—since the 1970s.

自上世纪70年代以来，科尚一直在研究学者们所说的“工人的声音”——员工们觉得他们对自己的工作环境有多大的影响力。

At the beginning of his career, about one-quarter of workers were represented by a union and another third,

在他职业生涯初期的时候，根据一项全国就业质量调查，大约有四分之一的工人都由工会代表，

according to a national Quality of Employment Survey, said the'd join one if they had an opportunity.

另外四分之三的工人们则表示，如果有机会他们就会加入工会。

The next time the question was fielded, in the mid-'90s, workers'interest in joining a union had barely budged.

90年代中期，当这个问题再次被提出时，工人们加入工会的兴趣几乎没有变化。