来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年12月16日
本文适合2024考生
New day, new strike. On Thursday it was nurses. Today, like yesterday, it is rail workers and bus drivers. Driving test examiners are coming soon and the nurses resume their action on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday, in a move which may shift the public mood from aggravation to alarm, ambulance workers and 999 call handlers will walk out. Only patients with the most serious, life-threatening conditions will receive help. Those who suffer a fall, by contrast, may be left to fend for themselves. Of course, for frail and elderly patients, a fall can indeed be life-threatening. It is a chilling prospect.
新的一天，新的罢工。周四是护士。今天和昨天一样，是铁路工人和公共汽车司机。驾考考官很快就要参与进来，护士们将于周二恢复罢工。然后，周三，救护人员和999名电话接线员将罢工，此举可能会将公众情绪从恼火转变为恐慌。只有病情最严重、危及生命的患者才会得到帮助。相比之下，那些跌倒的人可能只能自生自灭。当然，对于体弱和年老的患者来说，跌倒确实会危及生命。这是一个令人不寒而栗的前景。
The NHS strikers say that the Government’s 4 per cent pay offer, at a time when inflation is running near 11 per cent, is unacceptable. But nurses’ demands – a 19 per cent rise – are equally unacceptable. In an interview, senior Conservative Oliver Dowden rightly insists that the Government will not entertain such an increase. But ways out of the deeply damaging spiral of strikes need to be found. This, after all, has been a highly unusual year with costs to spike. Inflation today is significantly higher than it was when the independent pay review body set its recommendations.
NHS罢工者表示，在通货膨胀率接近11%的情况下，政府4%的涨薪是不可接受的。但护士的要求——加薪19%——同样令人无法接受。在一次采访中，资深保守党人奥利弗·道登坚称政府不会接受这样的涨幅，这是正确的。但是，我们需要找到摆脱罢工造成严重破坏的恶性循环的方法。毕竟，今年是生活成本飙升的极不寻常的一年。如今的通货膨胀率明显高于独立薪酬审查机构提出建议时的水平。
The real problem with pay negotiations – not just in the NHS but across the board – is that increased wages are not tied to reform. Rather, radical union leaders have managed to separate the two issues, as if ever more cash being spent on salaries is at best a precursor to discussions about improving efficiency, rather than an integral part of them. Yet when so many billions of pounds are spent on critical infrastructure, it is essential that efficiency improvements are baked in when the cash is handed over.
薪酬谈判的真正问题——不仅是在NHS，而是在所有领域——在于加薪与改革无关。相反，激进的工会领导人设法将这两个问题分开，似乎更多的钱花在工资上充其量只是讨论提高效率的前奏，而不是讨论的组成部分。然而，当如此数十亿英镑花在关键的基础设施上时，至关重要的是，在移交资金时，效率的提高也要考虑在内。
Otherwise the situation arises where, as currently with the NHS, significantly more money is pumped in, only for significantly less care to be delivered. The scale of this is dramatic – 14 per cent fewer outpatient appointments despite significantly more staff, according to a report this week.
否则，就会出现这样的情况，就像目前的NHS一样，大量的资金被注入，但提供的护理却明显减少。这种情况的程度非常惊人——本周的一份报告显示，尽管工作人员明显增多，但门诊预约量却减少了14%。
But the scale of that waste, perversely, may be a sign of hope. It shows what huge sums could be freed with reform – sums which could then be reinvested in recruitment and wages. It makes sense for strikers, then, that reform and pay are linked in negotiations.
但是，这种浪费的规模可能是一种希望的迹象。这表明，改革可以释放出巨额资金——这些资金可以再投资于招聘和工资。因此，改革和薪酬在谈判中联系起来对罢工者来说是有意义的。
At a time of such economic difficulty, it is in everyone’s interests if negotiations with the health or transport industries are focused on better service and productivity for consumers. That is a fair path out of this mess which only the most unreasonable union leaders can reject.
在这样的经济困难时期，如果与卫生或运输行业的谈判侧重于为消费者提供更好的服务和生产率，这符合每个人的利益。这是一条走出困境的公平道路，只有最不讲理的工会领导人才会拒绝。