VOA慢速英語: 美國西海岸港口恢復運作

US West Coast Ports Busy, Struggling With Backlog

美國西海岸的港口恢復運作

Most West Coast ports in the United States have been busy since Friday. That is when negotiators reached a tentative settlement in a nine-month labor dispute and work slowdown. Now that goods again are being unloaded the dockworkers and employers say they can talk about long-term problems.

自周五以來，美國西海岸的大部分港口一直非常繁忙。九個月的勞動爭議和放緩工作后，談判雙方達成暫時的解決方案?，F(xiàn)在碼頭工人開始卸載貨物，雇主說他們可能談論長期的運作問題。

Many ships have been docked or have been waiting offshore at 29 West Coast ports. Port officials say it will take months to process all the cargo. Most dockworkers have returned to work. But they still must vote on a tentative five-year contract.

很多船只已經(jīng)靠岸或者已經(jīng)在西海岸的29個海港等待著。港口官員表示需要幾個月的時間來處理所有的貨物。很多碼頭工人已經(jīng)重返工作。但是他們必須得對一份為期5年的勞動合同進行表決。

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez went to San Francisco to urge both sides to settle their differences quickly. Craig Merrilees is with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. He said the negotiations have been difficult.

美國勞工部部長托馬斯·皮爾茲前往舊金山敦促雙方盡快解決他們的分歧。克雷格·梅里利斯是國際海岸和倉庫工會的成員，他表示談判一直以來都很艱難。

"You know, there are a lot of tough issues in this process that lasted over nine months, and some of them are the kinds of issues that are affecting all workers. That includes the outsourcing of good jobs."

“在過去九個月的談判過程中，有很多棘手的問題，而有些問題事關到所有的工人，這些問題包括不錯工作的外包問題。”

Workers say administrative jobs at the port have been moving to other states and other countries. Workers say they also worry about increasing automation of port operations, reducing the need for workers.

工人們表示港口的行政工作已經(jīng)搬到其它的州或者其它國家，他們還擔心港口自動化的操作，會減少對工人的需求。

Those who move goods in and out of the country include the San Francisco coffee company, Ritual Coffee Roasters. Eileen Rinaldi is the owner.

那些需要進出口貨物的公司有舊金山的咖啡公司，Ritual Coffee Roasters，艾琳·里納爾迪是公司的所有者。

"We are reliant on constant arrivals of coffee in order to have a fresh supply."

“我們依賴于持續(xù)不斷的咖啡進口，來確保有新鮮的咖啡供應。”

Many other businesses depend on goods passing through the ports, such as beer makers that use imported hops, farmers with crops to ship. One California children's clothing company has been waiting for its products trapped in ships near the Port of Oakland.

其它很多生意也需要通過港口運輸，比如：需要采購進口啤酒花的啤酒制造商，農(nóng)民需要用船運糧食作物。加利福尼亞一家兒童制衣公司一直在等待被困在奧克蘭德港口附近船載的產(chǎn)品。

Tom O'Brien is a transportation expert at California State University, Long Beach. He says long-term problems at the ports must be addressed. Mr. O'Brien also says not only the port but roads, bridges and railways need to be upgraded.

湯姆·歐布瑞恩是加利福尼亞州立大學長灘分校的交通運輸專家。他稱港口長期以來的問題必須得到解決。歐布瑞恩表示不僅僅是港口需要升級更新，公路、橋梁和鐵路都需要改善、提高。

"The fact that we have larger ships coming now, that is creating peak demand for labor and for equipment is putting a lot of pressure on our infrastructure, not only the ports, but the road network, rail capacity, distribution center and warehousing."

“實際上，有更大型的船進港，這樣創(chuàng)造了勞工和設備需求高峰，給我們的基礎設施帶來壓力，不僅對港口、還有給公路運輸網(wǎng)絡、鐵路運輸能力、調(diào)配中心和倉庫存儲都帶來壓力。”

The labor dispute began in July when a labor agreement ended. The work stoppage has affected 29 West Coast ports for months and slowed U.S. trade with Asia. Those ports process more than 25 percent of all U.S. maritime trade and more than 70 percent of the nation's imports from Asia.

勞工協(xié)議結(jié)束后，勞工談判自七月份開始。勞動罷工影響到29個西海岸港口的數(shù)月的運作，減緩了美國與亞洲的貿(mào)易合作。這些港口的貿(mào)易額占美國貿(mào)易額的25%，承擔超過70%的對亞洲的進口貿(mào)易。

I'm Mario Ritter.

我是馬里奧·瑞特。

Mike O'Sullivan reported this story from Los Angeles. Mario Ritter wrote it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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Words in This Story

tentative – adj. not definite: still able to be changed

cargo – n. something that is carried from one place to another by boat, airplane, etc.

address – v. to give attention to (something): to deal with (a matter, issue, problem, etc.)