VOA慢速英语2013 H&M计划提高制衣工人工资

 

AS IT IS 2013-12-18 H&M Plans to Raise Pay for Clothing Workers H&M计划提高制衣工人工资

Welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English. I’m Mario Ritter. Clothing workers around the world have demanded higher pay for the job they do. Now, a major clothing seller, H&M has agreed.

“We are one of the biggest brands within this industry, and of course with that size also comes a responsibility.”

Then we hear how the Global Fund has helped cut the HIV infection rate in many countries.

H&M Plans to Raise Pay at Clothing FactoriesThe Swedish clothing seller H&M recently announced a program to increase wages for clothing workers in factories around the world. The move would affect companies that  supply H&M, including in Cambodia, where the company is a leading buyer. H&M's announcement comes at the end of a notable year for the international garment industry.  June Simms has Robert Carmichael’s report from Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian government expects to announce an increase in the current $75 monthly minimum wage for garment workers. The size of the increase is not yet known. But  officials are under pressure to improve wages and working conditions in the country's most important industry.

At least part of that pressure is political. The opposition¹ made major gains in July's election. One reason may have been opposition candidates’ promises to double  the monthly minimum wage. Their pledge won the votes of many of the country's 400,000 garment workers. Most of them are young women who support their poor rural  families.

There are other reasons for the pressure as well. The year 2013 has been difficult for Cambodia's garment industry. Workers have gone on strikes and held sometimes  violent protests over wages that have not increased over time.

In October, H&M's CEO, Karl-Johan Persson, discussed wages with Prime Minister Hun Sen in Cambodia. He also met with local labor² unions. Shortly after the visit, H&M  announced a five-year plan. The plan aims to guarantee a fair living wage for workers and a yearly review of workers' wages.

One factory in Cambodia and two in Bangladesh will try the plan next year.  Anna Gedda is H&M's social sustainability manager:

“We are one of the biggest brands within this industry, and of course with that size also comes the responsibility.”

Under the plan, H&M will pay its sub-contractor factories what it calls a fair living wage.

Dave Welsh, the country representative of the Solidarity³ Center, a non-profit affiliated⁴ with the U.S. labor movement, welcomes H&M's decision.

Welsh says it is no secret the Cambodian government fears that buyers in the clothing industry might leave the country if wages rise too fast. But, H&M’s plan should  help reduce those fears.

“I understand that concern [but] they have H&M now on record as saying not only will they not pull out, but that they are committed unilaterally to making sure that  at least in their factories a living wage is paid.”

H&M expects that by 2018, all 750 of the factories it uses will meet its standard.

At the moment, it is not clear how that the company’s plan will work. H&M says it will not charge consumers more, which means the expense will be pushed further down  the chain.

The other issue is how many other companies will join H&M. So far none has. H&M admits that making its plan work, especially in factories it shares with other brands,  will require cooperation. The plan will also require the support of unions, factories and governments.

Now, Cambodia's garment workers are waiting to hear how much they will earn next year. Already some independent unions are threatening further action unless the  minimum wage doubles to $150.

I’m June Simms.

The Global Fund Fights AIDS, Tuberculosis⁵ and MalariaIn Asia and Africa, the spread of HIV-AIDS has had a disastrous⁷ effect on people and their livelihoods⁸. The United States and other donors⁹ gave their support recently  to the Global Fund, an international financing institution that fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria⁶. Officials from many countries credited the fund with helping¹⁰ to  bring down HIV infection rates. Christopher Cruise has William Eagle’s report from Washington.

Health officials, world leaders and donors from around the world met recently at the Global Fund’s Fourth Replenishment¹¹ Conference in Washington. They met to increase  financial support and bring attention to progress made in fighting the three deadly diseases.  Fund officials want to raise up to $15 billion dollars for the three year period from 2014 to 2016. That would be a $4.6 billion dollar increase over the last period.  The United States has promised to give up to $5 billion to the fund. President Barack Obama said the U.S. will add $1 for every $2 promised by other donors. Other  countries that promised large donations include Britain, France, Japan and Canada.

Bill Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation attended the conference. The foundation promised up to $500 million for the new funding period.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke¹² at the conference. He said continued financial support is important if progress is to be made in the fight against HIV,  malaria and tuberculosis. Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also spoke at the conference. She said projects supported by the Global Fund have helped save 9 million lives from the  three diseases. She also noted¹³ that the rate of infection had fallen.  “On the continent, we’ve seen new HIV infections have fallen quite dramatically, a drop of almost 40 percent. One million fewer people acquired HIV in 2012, and we  had 22 percent fewer AIDS-related deaths between 2001 and 2012”

Similar progress was noted by another participant at the conference -- Jeanette Kagame, the wife of the president of Rwanda. She works on global development and public  health issues. She helped create the group Friends of the Global Fund. She praised the increased availability of treatment for HIV-infected mothers in her country.

“We have placed emphasis on prevention of mother-to-child transmission [of] HIV. HIV-positive pregnant women and their children have access to PMCT [prevention of  mother-to-child transmission] services in 85 percent of our health facilities.”

Secretary of State Kerry said the fund should spend its money carefully, based on the latest science. He also said the global fund’s partners must consider the effect  of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. More than half of those infected in sub-Saharan Africa are women or girls. Mr. Kerry says the fund’s partners -- both private and  public -- need to cooperate when buying anti-retroviral drugs in order to lower costs. I’mChristopher Cruise.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 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。

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

4 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

5 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

6 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

7 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

8 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 replenishment   

n.补充(货物)

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• Natural replenishment of this vast supply of underground water occurs very slowly. 靠自然补充大量地下水是十分缓慢的。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。