来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年6月21日
Efforts to avert what has been described as the most widespread rail strike in a generation appeared to have foundered yesterday with even the faint possibility of a settlement unlikely to prevent significant disruption this week. Moreover, it seems this dispute will run through the summer and beyond.
为避免这场被称为一代人以来范围最广的铁路罢工所做的努力，昨日似乎以失败告终，即便有微弱的可能性达成和解，也不太可能防止本周发生重大铁路运营中断。此外，这场纠纷似乎将持续整个夏天，甚至更长时间。
The RMT union has lodged a claim for a 7 per cent pay rise, which is higher than the rail companies can possibly afford, yet is still below the expected inflation rate in the autumn. In London, the Tube drivers are also on strike, making travel into and out of the capital difficult for millions of commuters.
RMT工会已提出加薪7%的要求，这一加薪幅度超出了铁路公司可能承受的范围，但仍低于秋季的预期通胀率。在伦敦，地铁司机也在罢工，使得数百万通勤者进出首都变得困难。
The last national strike on such a scale was in 1994 when signallers staged 10 weeks of stoppages shortly after Railtrack had been created from the state-run British Rail. Ironically, this strike takes place after the Government has announced plans effectively to renationalise the entire system under its new brand Great British Railways.
上一次如此大规模的全国性罢工发生在1994年，当时英国国有的英国铁路公司刚刚创建Railtrack，信号员们就举行了为期10周的罢工。具有讽刺意味的是，今年的这次罢工发生在政府宣布计划在其新品牌“大英铁路”下将整个铁路系统重新国有化之后。
This inevitably raises the question of the role to be played by the Government in the dispute. The unions and Labour say it has a duty to get involved; the employers say ministers should stay out, and the latter agree.
这不可避免地引发了政府在这场争端中扮演何种角色的问题。工会和工党表示，他们有责任参与进来；雇主们说政府部长们应该不参加，政府部长们也同意这一点。
If it became a fight between the RMT and the Government, it would set a benchmark for the rest of the public sector where unions are also agitating for trouble over pay and conditions. Teachers and health workers have all indicated they may take strike action to protect living standards as inflation soars.
如果事情成为RMT工会和政府之间的斗争，这将为其他公共部门树立一个标杆，这些部门的工会也在煽动工资和工作条件方面的麻烦。教师和卫生工作者都表示，随着通货膨胀的飙升，他们可能会采取罢工行动，以保护生活水平。
The Government is right to remain at one remove and must stick with it, but more could have been done, and may yet need to be done, to alleviate the impact of the strikes. In 1994, thousands of free parking places were provided to enable commuters to drive into London. Why not this time? Why has Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, not suspended the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) and congestion charges and allowed parking for free for the week? The assumption that people can work from home, as during the pandemic, is lazy and defeatist.
政府坚持保持距离是正确的，必须坚持下去，但为了减轻罢工的影响，本可以做更多的工作，而且可能还需要做更多的事情。994年，数千个免费停车位被提供给通勤者，让他们可以开车进入伦敦。为什么这次不行？为什么伦敦市长萨迪克·汗没有暂停首都的超低排放区（Ulez）和拥堵收费，并允许本周免费停车？认为人们可以像疫情期间那样在家工作的假设是懒惰和失败主义的。