Unit 1. Labour Relations

1. Read the article from the CNN Money website and complete the extract with the expressions listed.

called for              officials              walkout              broke off              arbitration

affects              distributed stoppage deal              average

Hershey Workers Walk off Job

Nearly 3,000 Hershey Foods Corp.

The strike at the company’s two plants in Hershey... (1) about one-fifth of the work force at the nation’s largest candy maker, where negotiations between Hershey and the Chocolate Workers Local 464 ... (2) Wednesday. No new talks were scheduled.

The company said a labor ... (3) at the two Hershey production plants would not interrupt service to its customers. Hershey Foods has been building inventory and cash reserves in preparation for a ... (4), analysts said.

Even before the walkout began at 9 a.m., workers began gathering outside the factories and union officials ... (5) signs that read, “Stop the Greed, Share the Wealth.”

“The raises they give won’t cover the increases in the medical benefits,” said Brian Daubert, a production worker at the West Hershey plant.

A ... (6) offered by the company but rejected earlier this month ... (7) worker health insurance payments to increase from 6 percent to 10 percent, then 12 percent over four years.

Workers, who receive an ... (8) hourly wage of about $ 18, would get raises of around 2.6 percent to 2.8 percent each year for four years.

The company offered to enter into binding ... (9) Wednesday but the union refused, both sides said.

The labor stoppage at Hershey is the fifth in the 97-year-old candy maker’s history. The last strike by members of Chocolate Workers Local 464 was a three-week work stoppage in 1980,...

2. After filling in the gaps read the article once more and decide which of the statements are True and which are False and write T for True and F for False.

1. Hershey workers walked off the job because the company wanted to increase their bonus pay.
2. The negotiations between the administration and unions were a failure.
3. The strike would be a hard blow to customers’ service.
4. The raises are too low to cover the increases in the medical benefits.
5. Both sides do not mind entering into binding arbitration.

3. Give English equivalents and make up your own sentences:

• забастовка, не санкционированная профсоюзом;
• закрытие предпринимателями одного или нескольких предприятий с тем чтобы заставить рабочих и служащих принять навязываемые им решения;
• предупредительная забастовка;
• участвовать в сидячей забастовке;
• естественное сокращение рабочей силы.

4. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. Where there was a closed shop agreement an employer could not hire non-union workers.
2. We feel that salaries should at least keep pace with inflation.
3. With collective bargaining the unions negotiate on behalf of groups of workers, not individuals.
4. If they work to rule the job might not be completed on time.
5. Union members were asked not to cross the picket line.

5. Render the extract from the article using the active vocabulary.

По данным профсоюза, на начало забастовки в ней участвовало 50 ООО рабочих на 20 предприятиях. Глава профсоюза IG Metall Клаус Цвикель первоначально хотел добиться повышения заработной платы для всех 3,6 млн рабочих немецкой металлургической и электронной промышленности на 6,5 %. В последний момент профсоюз дал понять, что готов к заключению соглашения, в котором перед запятой будет стоять четверка. До сих гюр работодатели предлагали 3,3 %.

Во вторник забастовка в Баден-Вюртемберге продолжится. Профсоюз хочет включить в борьбу такие предприятия, как Varta, Bosch-Siemens, Alstom, ABB и Alcan. Распространение забастовочного движения на Берлин и Бранденбург не должно произойти до начала будущей недели.

В понедельник не наблюдалось никаких симптомов скорого окончания забастовки, хотя Цвикель и подтвердил, что он готов к переговорам. Тем не менее, Ханс Вернер Буш, генеральный директор объединенного союза работодателей-металлургов, скептически относится к возможности достижения соглашения на новом раунде переговоров.