ECONOMICS REPORT - Deep in the Heart of Texas, a Labor Union

ECONOMICS REPORT - Deep in the Heart of Texas, a Labor¹ Union Expands
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, December 09, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Labor unions in the United States have been losing members for years. Not all are shrinking, however. The nation's fastest-growing union has recently added thousands of members in Houston, Texas. The expansion is the result of an effort to organize the workers who clean buildings.

 
Striking janitors² in Los Angeles in 2000
The Service Employees International Union has close to two million members. It organizes workers in a number of service areas. These include health workers, government and public service workers and workers in property services.

In Houston, janitors at four major companies have voted to unionize. The American Arbitration³ Association recognized the decision as official on November twenty-ninth. Four thousand seven hundred janitors in Houston have now joined the Service Employees International.

That number is more than sixty percent of the janitors in large buildings in the city. It could increase to over seventy percent if workers at another company are able to unionize.

The Houston janitors say they want the union to help them negotiate better pay. They also hope for some form of health plan and retirement⁴ savings⁵.

Currently, the janitors receive about five dollars and thirty cents an hour. That is a little above the national minimum wage of five dollars and fifteen cents. The minimum wage is the lowest pay that workers can receive.

Unionized janitors in cities like Chicago, New York or Washington, D.C., earn eleven dollars or more. But most cleaning workers around the country do not belong to unions. Many workers in low-paying service jobs are recent immigrants. Some are in the country illegally.

The Houston area is not known for organized labor activity. The union did not even have offices there. Organizers from Chicago supervised the effort.

In July, the Service Employees International Union split with the A.F.L.-C.I.O. That came as part of a major division within the country's main labor alliance.

Andrew Stern is president of the service employees union. He says twenty-first century unions must organize by industry across borders, to deal with huge international companies.

Fifty years ago, about thirty-three percent of privately⁶ employed workers in America were in a union. By the early nineteen eighties it was twenty percent. Today about thirteen percent of American workers belong to unions.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Steve Ember.

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 janitors   

n.看门人( janitor的名词复数 )；看管房屋的人；锅炉工

参考例句：

• The janitors were always kicking us out. 守卫总是将～踢出去。 来自互联网
• My aim is to be one of the best janitors in the world. 我的目标是要成为全世界最好的守门人。 来自互联网

3 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

4 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。