来源：《卫报》
刊登日期：2021年4月14日
Last week’s news that Amazon has frustrated an attempt by workers to form its first ever US trade union is unsurprising. What intrigues is the volume and variety of support that the struggle won across the US and the world, from faith leaders to the NFL players association. In that intensity of interest lies the real surprise: the change in popular politics towards both big business and workers.
上周的新闻，亚马逊(Amazon)挫败了员工组建其有史以来第一个美国工会的尝试，这并不令人意外。有趣的是，这场斗争在美国和世界各地赢得了大量和各种各样的支持，从宗教领袖到NFL球员协会。在这种强烈的兴趣中，真正令人惊讶的是：大众对大企业和工人的政治观点的改变。
The voting result was ridiculously lopsided. In one corner you had the world’s richest man sitting atop corporate America’s second-largest employer, in perhaps the most anti-union country in the rich world. Opposing him were workers and activists in Alabama, one of the most conservative of all US states, trying something never attempted before in the land of the free: to unionise an entire Amazon warehouse, those buildings full of consumer goods and crushing conditions for workers that together define our way of life. No wonder Jeff Bezos won last week, with workers at this warehouse voting more than two to one against forming a union. That result allows Amazon to continue hiring and firing at will.
投票结果是荒谬的一边倒。在一个角落里，在可能是发达国家中最反工会的美国，世界上最富有的人坐在美国第二大雇主公司的顶端。与他对立的是阿拉巴马州的工人和活动家，阿拉巴马州是美国最保守的州之一，他们在美国的土地上尝试了一件从未尝试过的事情：为一整个亚马逊仓库建立工会，这些仓库装满了消费品，工作条件非常恶劣，它们共同决定了我们的生活方式。难怪杰夫·贝佐斯上周获胜，工人们以2比1的票数反对组建工会。这一结果使得亚马逊可以继续随意招聘和解雇员工。
Just why the defeat was so large is a question that has prompted much soul-searching among American progressives, with some blaming poor strategic choices by the activists and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union claiming Amazon pursued “egregious and illegal” anti-union tactics, allegations that the company denies. But perhaps the fairest assessment is that from the longstanding labour writer and activist Jane McAlevey: “If the rules for unionization in the US came close to being fair, pro-union workers would have won. But the rules aren’t fair. Quite the opposite: they are outrageously unfair.”
为什么这次失败如此之惨，这是一个促使美国进步人士进行深刻反思的问题，一些人指责活动人士做出了糟糕的战略选择，零售、批发和百货商店工会声称亚马逊采取了“恶劣和非法的”反工会策略，但亚马逊否认了这些指控。但或许最公平的评价来自于长期以来的劳工作家、活动人士简•麦卡利维：“如果美国的工会规则接近公平，那么支持工会的工人就会获胜。但规则是不公平的。恰恰相反：规则极其不公平。”
But there are two hopeful lessons that America and the rest of the world can take from this story of disappointment. First, it is now convention to argue that societies need strong unions. Last month, Joe Biden gave that message in a video address. Researchers at the International Monetary Fund have long pointed out the links between inequality and financial crises, and argued that “restoration of the lower income group’s bargaining power is more effective” than a crash in righting a giant wealth gap. In that battle between the billionaire Mr Bezos and the Alabama workers, it’s clear who those IMF researchers would have rooted for.
但是，美国和世界其他国家可以从这个令人失望的故事中吸取两个有希望的教训。首先，现在认为社会需要强大的工会已经是一种惯例。上个月，乔·拜登在一段视频讲话中传达了这一信息。国际货币基金组织的研究人员长期以来一直指出不平等与金融危机之间的联系，并认为“恢复低收入群体的议价能力”比金融市场崩溃在纠正巨大财富差距方面更有效。在亿万富翁贝索斯和阿拉巴马州工人之间的斗争中，很明显，IMF的研究人员会支持谁。
Second, the excitement around that Alabama ballot shows how far sentiment in the capitalist heartland is moving against big business and towards labour. Opinion polls suggest American public approval for trade unions is the highest it has been in almost 20 years, at 65%. This is not a shift in mood that has been led by Mr Biden; rather, the president is being compelled to channel it. This is a very different kind of politics than seen in the era of Barack Obama. Where it goes next will be worth watching.
其次，围绕阿拉巴马州投票的兴奋情绪表明，在这个资本主义中心地带，人们的情绪正朝着反对大企业、支持劳工的方向发展。民意调查显示，美国公众对工会的支持率达到了近20年来的最高水平，为65%。这并不是由拜登领导的情绪转变；相反，总统正被迫引导这种情绪。这是一种与巴拉克•奥巴马时代截然不同的政治。接下来的发展方向值得关注。