来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年6月8日
The threatened national rail strike will not only massively inconvenience the travelling public but represents a significant political challenge to the Government, with consequences across the public sector.
这次威胁到全国范围的铁路罢工不仅会给出行的公众带来极大的不便，而且会给政府带来重大的政治挑战，影响到整个公共部门。
The RMT union has called its members out over the week of June 21 to 25 in a dispute over pay, redundancies and new working practices. The stoppages are choreographed to take place on three days to maximise disruption while minimising the financial impact on the union’s members. For two days they are, in theory, working; but strikes on the other three days effectively mean trains will not be running for the entire week.
英国铁路、海事和运输工会就对工资、裁员和新工作方式的纠纷，召集其成员在6月21日至25日的一周内出动。罢工被安排在三天内进行，以最大限度地中断铁路运行，同时将对工会成员的经济影响降至最低。理论上，他们工作了两天；但其他三天的罢工实际上意味着整个星期火车都不会运行。
The RMT prides itself on being an effective union because it has successfully faced down attempts to modernise working practices on the railways while securing pay rises and resisting job losses.
英国铁路、海事和运输工会为自己是一个有效的工会而自豪，因为它成功地挫败了让铁路工作方式现代化的尝试，同时确保了加薪和没有失业。
Even though the railways were ostensibly privatised in the 1990s, the track has been back in state hands for 20 years and the operating companies kept running into financial difficulties despite rising passenger numbers. The taxpayer has been forking out more in subsidies than under the old British Rail nationalised model.
尽管上世纪90年代铁路表面上已经私有化，但20年来铁路一直归政府所有，尽管乘客人数不断增加，运营公司却一直面临财务困难。纳税人已经支付了比旧的英国铁路国有化模式下更多的补贴。
Then came the pandemic, reducing the customer base by 80 per cent or more and making commercial survival all but impossible. Now the Government has effectively decided to renationalise the system as Great British Railways, under which private companies will survive as operators on a performance contract.
随后，大流行爆发，客户群减少了80%或更多，商业生存几乎不可能。现在政府实际上已经决定将铁路系统重新收归国有，成立大英国铁路公司，根据该公司的规定，私营公司将以履约合同的形式作为运营商生存下来。
If Whitehall is taking over then it needs to confront the biggest barrier to a modern, corporate rail system – namely the rail unions. Their control over the industry is destructive. They use strike threats to require an annual pay rise based on the retail price index, pushing up the costs of the industry as a result. Fares have risen to levels far above those seen in most comparable countries.
如果白厅要接管，那么它需要面对现代企业铁路系统的最大障碍——即铁路工会。工会对这个行业的控制是破坏性的。它们利用罢工威胁要求根据零售价格指数每年加薪，从而推高了行业的成本。票价已经上涨到远高于大多数同类国家的水平。
Critics accuse the unions of resisting modernisation of working practices and technology. It is argued that union controls over recruitment add to delays in training drivers and guards, and that rail company management is therefore hindered. This activity cannot be allowed to continue. The strike is the Government’s opportunity to stop it. Will it take it?
批评人士指责工会抵制工作实践和技术的现代化。有人认为，工会对招聘的控制增加了司机和列车员培训的延误，因此铁路公司的管理受到阻碍。不能允许工会的这类做法继续下去。这次罢工是阻止这种做法的好机会。政府会抓住这次机会吗？