PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Five Labor Leaders

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Five Labor¹ Leaders
By Linda Burchill

Broadcast: Sunday, September 05, 2004

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ANNCR:

Welcome to People in America in VOA Special English. At the beginning of the twentieth century, American laborers³ often worked long hours for little pay. Many worked under extremely dangerous conditions. About five-hundred-thousand workers, however, had joined groups called labor unions, hoping to improve their situation.

Today, Rich Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long tell about five labor leaders who worked to improve conditions for American workers.

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VOICE ONE:

 
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In Nineteen-Hundred, the largest national organization of labor unions was the American Federation⁵ of Labor. Its head was Samuel Gompers.

Gompers had moved to New York with his parents when he was thirteen years old. He was twenty-four when he began working for the local union of cigar makers⁶. He worked for the labor movement for sixty years.

VOICE TWO:

Samuel Gompers had helped create the A-F-L in the late Eighteen-Eighties. He led the organization for all but one year until his death in Nineteen-Twenty-Four. Gompers defined the purpose of the labor movement in America. He also established the method used to solve labor disputes.

Gompers thought unions should work only to increase wages, improve work conditions and stop unfair treatment of workers. He called his method pure and simple unionism.

Samuel Gompers sought immediate⁷ change for workers. He used group actions such as strikes as a way to try to force company owners to negotiate.

VOICE ONE:

Gompers was criticized for going to social events with industry leaders, and for compromising too easily with employers. But Gompers believed such actions helped his main goal. He believed if workers were respected their employers would want to make working conditions better.

Under the leadership of Samuel Gompers, the labor movement won its first small gains. For example, the federal government recognized the right of workers to organize. That happened when union representatives were part of the National War Labor Board during World War One.

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VOICE TWO:

John L. Lewis expanded the American labor movement with a campaign he called organizing the unorganized.Lewis was the head of the United Mine Workers of America. He also was the vice-president of the A-F-L.

In Nineteen-Thirty-Five, Lewis formed the Committee for Industrial Organization within the A-F-L. He wanted the C-I-O to organize workers in mass production industries, such as automobile⁹ industry. The A-F-L mainly organized unions of workers who had the same skills. But Lewis believed skilled and unskilled workers in the same industry should be organized into the same union.

Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act in Nineteen-Thirty-Five. It gave workers the legal right to join unions and to negotiate with employers. John L. Lewis thought it was the right time to press the large industries to recognize workers' rights.

The A-F-L, however, decided¹⁰ not to support such action and expelled the unions that belonged to the C-I-O. In Nineteen-Thirty-Six, the C-I-O began operating as another national labor organization. Lewis was its leader.

VOICE ONE:

John L. Lewis was an extremely colorful and effective speaker. He had worked as a coal miner and could relate to the most terrible conditions workers faced. More than three million workers joined the C-I-O in its first year as a separate organization. For the first time, labor won many strikes and permanent improvements in workers conditions.

For many years, presidents, members of Congress, and business leaders considered John L. Lewis the voice of labor. And, American workers saw Lewis as their hero. By the Nineteen-Fifties, the labor movement an established part of American life.

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VOICE TWO:

Walter Reuther was the vice-president of the C-I-O under Lewis, and became its president in Nineteen-Fifty-Two. Reuther believed unions had a social responsibility. His ideas were partly influenced by his German father who was a socialist¹¹.

Walter Reuther was trained to make tools to cut metal. He joined the United Automobile Workers union when it first formed in Nineteen-Thirty-Five.

VOICE ONE:

Walter Reuther was president of the United Auto⁸ Workers for twenty-three years beginning in Nineteen-Forty-Six. He shaped the U-A-W into one of the most militant¹² and forward-looking unions. He held strikes to gain increased wages for workers, but, at the same time, he expected workers to increase their rate of production. He was the first to link pay raises to productivity increases. Reuther also was greatly concerned about civil rights and the environment.

In Nineteen-Fifty-Five, Reuther helped the A-F-L and C-I-O re-join as one organization.

Reuther's ideas were recognized worldwide. But they also brought him enemies. He survived three murder attempts. He said, "You have to make up your mind whether you are willing to accept things as they are or whether you are willing to try to change them."

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VOICE TWO:

A. Philip Randolph is known for combining the labor and civil rights movements. Randolph became involved with unions in Nineteen-Twenty-Five. A group of black workers on passenger trains asked him to organize a union, The Brotherhood¹³ of Sleeping Car Porters.

Randolph was not a laborer². He was the college-educated son of a minister. He published a socialist magazine in New York City. He was known as a fighter for black rights. Randolph strongly believed that economic conditions affected¹⁴ rights and power for African-Americans.

For twelve years, Randolph fought the Pullman Company that employed the passenger train workers. In 1935, Pullman finally agreed to negotiate with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Two years later, the porters' union signed the first labor agreement between a company and a black union.

A. Philip Randolph led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters for forty-three years. In Nineteen-Fifty-Seven he became vice-president of the A-F-L--C-I-O.

 
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Randolph used large group protests to change work conditions. He planned marches on the capital in Washington to protest the unequal treatment of black workers by the government.

In Nineteen-Sixty-Three, Randolph planned the 'March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.' At this huge peaceful gathering¹⁵, civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Junior, made his famous "I have a dream" speech. Within a year the civil rights amendment¹⁶ passed guaranteeing equal rights for blacks and other minorities.

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VOICE ONE:

Cesar Chavez created the first farmers union in Nineteen-Sixty-Two. That union later became the United Farm Workers of America.

Farm workers had been considered too difficult to organize. They worked during growing seasons. Many farm workers did not speak English or were in the country illegally.

Farm workers earned only a few dollars each hour. They often lived in mud shelters and had no waste removal systems. Many farm workers were children.

VOICE TWO:

Cesar Chavez went to school for only eight years. But he read a lot. He was greatly influenced by the ideas of famous supporters of non-violence such as Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi.

Chavez led his workers on marches for better pay and conditions. Workers walked hundreds of miles carrying cloth banners with the Spanish words Viva la Causa -- long live our cause.

VOICE ONE:

Cesar Chavez created a new strike method called a boycott¹⁷. People refused to buy products of a company accused of treating farm workers badly. Chavez also publicized the dangers of some farm chemicals.

Cesar Chavez improved the conditions of farm workers by making their mistreatment a national issue.

VOICE TWO:

Union membership has dropped sharply since its highpoint in the Nineteen-Forties. Yet conditions for American workers continue to improve as employers realize that treating their workers well is good for business. The efforts of leaders of the American labor movement during the past one hundred years continue to improve the lives of millions of workers.

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ANNCR:

This Special English program was written by Linda Burchill and produced by Paul Thompson. The announcers were Rich Kleinfeldt and Sarah Long. I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for another People In America program in VOA Special English.

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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 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

3 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

4 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

9 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

10 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。

11 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

12 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

13 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

14 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。

15 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

16 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

17 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。