【ＡＢＣ】大烟雾
本帖最后由 酸枣树310 于 2009-3-30 23:11 编辑原文很长，译得有些粗糙，有不正之处，请指点。
【原文标题】The Big Smoke
【中文标题】大烟雾
【登载媒体】美国ＡＢＣ
【来源地址】http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2009/s2526001.htm
【译者】JOHNSONPERSONAL
【翻译方式】人工
【声明】本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，未经AC或译者许可，不得转载。
【译文】
大烟雾
在广西省，农民已经在这块土地上生活了很多个世纪.
中国的指数增长让澳大利感到极度紧张。它促使我们资源繁荣，同时乐观主义者的经济预言是几十年内都是好时光。事情是如何改变的呢？
因为全球的经济不景气，二千万的中国流动民工在过去的六个月里失去了他们的工作。因为对中国制造的产品的需求下降，所以经过过去几十年的市场改革，已经脱离贫困的数百万中国人的生活标准也将降下来。
在中国的记者史蒂芬-麦跟随其中一些这个国家的蓝领工作，因为离开他们的土地去城里寻找工作。
他们搭乘一个宏大的火车旅程，从该国北方的偏僻的村庄去到南方的工业中心…珠江三角洲，也是知名的“世界工厂”。
但讽刺的是，直到上一年年末的金融海啸冲击前，（各种政策）都是偏向流动工人，面对由于无良的雇主对工人的剥削所导致的正在增长的中产阶级和越来越多的工人的暴动，中国政府强硬实行劳动法，给予工人更多的权利。
现在雇主们说，在当前的经济气候里，他们不能无能为力去执行（劳动法）。但是，面对失业的增加，担心社会动乱，意味着劳动法很可能留在原地（无法执行）。
毫无疑问，中国现在正在经历经济放缓下降…重要的问题是如何放缓，如何下降？澳大利亚工人希望当二千万中国工人失去他们的工作的时候，我们中一些人会被救，世界工厂会继续生产中国制造的产品。
全文
麦：安泰村的马已经准备好投入战斗。一大群马在涌动，几乎没有一个好的位置留下可以一睹今天的亮点。看到两头种马被诱使为争夺一头母马而投入战斗，以此作为娱乐节目也许会吓坏很多人，但是在广西的山区里，生活是困难的，这里没有什么娱乐活动。除了传统之外，在这些农民看来，在如困难的经济条件下，这也是一个让人愉快的娱乐节目。
几年前，很难想象在华尔街发生的事情可以影响到这个山村的生活，甚至这里也能感觉到世界金融危机。当这此庆祝活动完成后，人们会去工业城市找工作。在以前，中国的农村，１.３亿人离开他们的土地，十二个月后才回去。在这些城市里，他们成为大家所知的“流动民工”。
魏山车：“在我们村里超过２０００人，其中大约有７００人去了广东找工作。老人就留在家里,去甘蔗园里干活。”
麦：在中国，一个农民一年可以有大约４００澳大利亚元的收入。如果他们离开他们的土地去工厂里工作，会差不多接近２７００澳大利亚元一年。他们从来没有拥有他们耕作的土地，因为土地是属于国家的，但如果一个农民要到城市里找工作，他们可以出租他们土地的使用权。
５３岁的魏山车认为年青人离开农村没有什么问题。
魏山车：“我并不难过。他们去广东挣钱，然后回来提高我们老年人的生活。我们可以用这些钱去买房子。我们很高兴”
麦：但是村民都知道很多工厂都倒闭了，这一年，对于他们来说，很难找到工作。我们会跟随他们去看看他们怎么样走。这个地区附近的流动民工都来到了当地的火车站。虽然有很多的工业城市，但是南方的广东省是他们的主要目的地。对于一些人来说，这仍然是一次比较大的冒险。
火车站的一个中国年青人：“那个地方比较发达，年青人都想看看外面的世界。我想去那里看看，如果我找到一份好的工作，我会留在那里，如果不行，我会回来。”
麦：对于大多数人来说，只有一个原因让他们进行这次行程。
火车站一个中国老年人说：“是为了谋生，对吗？我们去那里是为了工作。我们贫穷，所以我们去那里找工作。”
麦:“你对到那里工作有什么期待？”
火车站一个中国老年人说：“我们只是去，并没有期待。”
麦：想要离开的意愿是一回事，但是实际上离开也是另一回事。人比座位多很多，你要在这里等候好几天才能上到火车。
[在火车站上站着]“尽管经济萎缩，但仍然有很多农民工上了火车去寻找一个更好的生活。车票很难买到---最便宜的火车票，你可以一直站在火车上，全程１６个小时。”
中国庞大的铁路系统一个星期多一点的时间可以运输数百万的流动民工去到工业中心。每年农民工的运输，已创造了该国制造业的奇迹，根据政府估计，上一年２千万个蓝领工人的工作职位已经消失。
因为火车是在夜间行进，每一个新的站点都是一样，越来越多的农民工沿着站台快速涌进火车。在没有到达广州前，真的不知道在路上有多少人上了火车。人们涌出火车，走向了他们还不确定的城市生活。
欢迎来到珠江三角洲，被严重污染的４万平方公里，从香港伸延到广州。数百的公司，大的，小的，合法的和不合法，中国人称这里为“世界工厂”。这里是中国新经济的诞生地。２０世纪８０年代，前领导人邓小平把给予这里特殊的经济地位，从这里资本主义革命蔓延。
雄雁：“我很喜欢这里。”
麦：“为什么？”
雄雁：“这是一种感觉，我真的喜欢这里。这里比我的家乡漂亮，所以我喜欢这里。”
麦：我们在这里遇到了２２岁的小雁。上一年，当时她工作的工厂要削减人手，她失去了她的工作。回到山村，最近她的父亲摔断了胳膊。他的治疗的费用比她一年挣的钱还要多。她不得不去找工作。
雄雁：“我的家庭很穷，通常我都会把我的工资寄回去。我只用一点作为生活支出，同时把余下的存起来寄回去支持我的家庭。”
麦：雄雁交给职业介绍所等同于半个星期的的收入，作为一个求职的费用，同时，每天有超过几千个像她一样的人到那里去注册。
[正看着公告栏]“我对我的中文能力稍为有点紧张，只是看看有什么工作可以提供，我看到机械技工----就是技术工，和机械学徒，就是技术助理。我也看到有一个司机的职位，还有英语老师和办公室助理，所以还是有很多不同的职位提供，但这里的每一个职位，都有很多的申请者。”
求职者都很紧迫。很多人只有足够供自己几个星期生存的钱。如果这些钱用完还没有找到工作，找工作的使命就失败了。
雄雁：“现在有太多人在找工作了。竞争很大。也将会越来越难。”
麦：雄雁想她也许会发现一份她能胜任的工作。在服务台，他们审查她是否适合，检查她的工作经验。然后打电话到那家公司以确定她是可以去面试。她在担忧地等着。
麦：“你找到适合的工作了吗？”
雄雁：“是的。”
麦：“什么样的公司？”
雄雁：“一家电线公司。”
麦：“你认为怎么样？”
雄雁：“很好。”
麦：“很好？他们叫你去面试了吗？”
雄雁：“是的，今天下午二点。”
麦:“好，我们一起去。”
麦：大家知道，她的家庭依赖她，这给雄雁增加了压力，尽管她说他很自信。这份工作要使用一个电脑程序，实际上，她以前没有使用过。在这家工厂里，他被提问和测试长达两个小时。看起来并不太乐观。
“什么结果？”
雄雁：“他们说他们会稍后告诉我，‘稍后告诉我’意味着我已经失败。”
麦：“是这样吗？为什么？”
雄雁：“是我的错，我不够好。他们的要求很高。我有点难过。”
麦：“为什么？”
雄雁：“因为我真的很累。我想这是一份很好的工作。是我想要的那种…但我已经失去了，我难过。”
麦：２００９年对于中国的流动民工来说，形势已不同。追溯到一年前，很多问题开始好转。制造业繁荣，同时由于劳工短缺，企业最终会不得不增加工资去吸引工人。
刘凯明博士：“在一段相当长的时间内，流动民工的工资一直都是难以置信的低。在城市里没有社会保障，卫生保健或者受教育的权利。这些导致他们十分贫穷。”
麦：刘凯明博士的非政府组织专门从事流动民工研究的。他说雇主和政府官员为了经济故意让工人贫困。他的工作给他带来很多麻烦。
刘凯明博士：“流动民工不能改变他们的命运主要的原因是中国当前的政府政策是有系统地剥削这些农民工。”
麦：但是中国统治者知道这已经造成了一个更宽的收入差距。他们长期对此熟视无睹，因为该国陶醉于经济的繁荣，但很明显经济很充足，在上一年实行新的劳动法以保护最贫穷的工人。与此同时，海外出现在大麻烦。
中国政府以备在最坏的时期，它的新的规定可以在世界金融危机里去帮助低收入的工人。很多雇主都抱怨在这个困难的时期还增加了额外的成本，所以我们来到这里，和一家大型的制造公司的老板会面，看看他们的想法。
来自香港的克里夫-孙是KINOX公司的常务董事，KINOX主要制造厨房用具，如咖啡壶。因为产品的９６%用于出口，他尤其受当前危机的影响。他尝试把产品在本地市场里销售，但这些产品对中国来说有点贵。孙说他不能相信政府在这个形势里推出新的规定以保护工人。
克里夫-孙：“如果公司要开除２０个人或者全体工人的１０%，以较低者为准，他们必须提前一个月通知工人。”
麦:“你认为合理吗？”
克里夫-孙：“不，不合理。”
麦：孙说他来自澳大利亚，美国和欧洲的订单下降了３０%，但他不得不裁员１０%。在新的法律下，每工作一年的被裁的员工获得一个月的工资作为补偿。工人在签订两个固定期限的合同后会成为长期员工。克里夫-孙说现在雇员说话的声音比雇主要大，这给珠江三角洲的老板带来极大的压力。
克里夫-孙：“不幸地，法律是在经济如此好的时候制定的，所有人都说好，雇主应该要给多一点，你知道的，他们不应该如此贪婪。”
刘凯明博士：“商人的抱怨绝对是没有道理的。中国的一直在执行有利于商人的政策，而不是工人。中国一直致力于资本家的利益和经济发展而无视工人的权利和执行劳动法。”
麦：在这次争论中不管谁对，政府每次都对新的劳动法采取坚定的立场。
[空空的仓库]“在上一年关闭前，这个地方是用来生产自行车的，用于出口。遍布广东，你会发现---很大很空的用于租赁的工厂。有趣的事情是在当前的条件下，本地人看到乐观的一面---如果你想找到一些便宜的工厂，现在是时候去做了。”
幸存下来的公司，都从这次危机中找到另外的利润点。
克里夫-孙：“上一年一直为我们工作的人，我们不会降低他们的工资，不，但是对于新招聘的人，我们会提供低于平时提供的条件。”
麦：对于工商企业倒闭，低收入和高失业，我走访绰号为流动民工的将军张全寿，曾经也是一个流动民工，现在他在经营一家劳力供应公司。
张全寿：[对着一群人在说话]“向右看！向前看！立正！向右转！”
麦：流动民工，大部份都是二十岁左右，到这里来找工作，到营地里得到公平的对待。
张全寿：“大家好，同志们！”
全体人员：“你好，老板！”
张全寿：[对着全体人员] “这一年全球金融危机造成流动民工很难找到工作。同志们，不要担心。你们要有信心，一切很快就会好起来。”
[对史蒂芬说]“他们会有工作做，有饭吃，他们会挣到钱。我叫他们相信我。因为我在鼓励们，我要守诺言，我要为他们找工作。”
麦：“为他们…这一年与上一年有什么差别？”
张全寿：＂很差!＂
麦：＂很差？＂
张全寿：＂是的，上一年我的公司超过１００００个工人．这一年我们只有５０００或者６０００个，其中３０００或者４０００人找到了工作，超过１０００个工人还没有工作。＂
麦：将军的工人可以从这里得到免费的住宿和食物，即使他没有为什么找到工作。一旦他们可以支付，他会从他们的工资里扣除。
营地里一个年青的女子：“我不想念家。我们是一个大家庭。我们聊天打发时间,一起生活得很开心。我们都是来自己同一个公司。我们说话，我们大笑，一切都可以。同时公司的设施都很好。”
麦：在一个不确定的时期,他们在这里有受保护的感觉。这里提供的食物就像他们在家里吃的一样。这有一点安慰。将军现在是中国人大代表。他有很多关系，在中国，这意味着他能很好的做成很生意。
张全寿：“他们只能在这里等候一段时间，逐步地他们会找到工作。只是时间问题。”
麦：可以确定的是，这些工人看起来很在秩序的编组，没有敲锣打鼓。这些人已经找到了工作，把东西搬出大门。新的巴士正在等着带他们到他们新的工厂。对于当前的危机，这是很好的解决的办法，政府也是愿意看到更多。他们担心的是其它的东西。
“在中国人民和他们的领导人之间有一个心照不宣协议。该国政府作了改善经济的发言，人们就不会涌入天安门广场去抗议。这就是为什么官方已经宣布该国的经济增长率不能低于８%，以避免任何形式的社会不稳定。”
刘凯明博：“最大的威胁是这些失业的流动民工也许会抗议政府，挑战政府的合法性甚至要求政府和共产党下台。”
麦：“实际上发生的机会是多少？”
刘凯明博士：“大约３０%的机会。很有可能是这些威胁不会发生。但这３０%的机会会发生如１９８９年这样的群众骚乱。”
麦：当然，如果中国政府的８０００亿美元的刺激方案可以足够地提升本地的需求，这完全可以避免。战略是解除借贷（限制）让商业贸易的轮子动起来，带动基础设施投资，和鼓励中国人民去消费去弥补出口的损失。
克里夫-孙：“制造业很可能首先恢复。金融海啸真正影响的是股票市场，银行，房地产，这些市场…受到重创，它需要很长的时间去恢复。在零售层面上，消费市场总是有需求的，你知道的，无疑是必须品。”
麦：对于这些持续的找工作的人来说，制造业正在转好。雄雁已经找到了工作，在一家服装公司做绘图员。她的城市生活正在改善。
雄雁：“一但我存到一些钱，我会把它寄回家。我的父亲负责如何去使用。他们不会浪费这些钱的。他们会把钱花到有需要的地方去…比如生长中的庄稼需要的肥料…或者是支付我姐姐的学费。”
麦：一些村民会失去他们一半的收入，如果他们不能到城里工作。中国的流动民工，如整个农村人口，是非常坚韧的。在当前数十年间，他们已经放下了犁，拿起了烙铁。如果他们中的一些人现在回去耕作，以渡过这个经济萎缩，至少，他们可以存活下来，这就是他们要告诉你的所有的东西。无论什么危机你都可以渡过和活得更好。
本帖最后由 johnsonpersonal 于 2009-3-30 16:19 编辑
原文如下：
China's exponential growth took Australia along for the white-knuckled ride. It fuelled our resources boom and had economic optimists forecasting decades of good times. How things change.
Twenty million Chinese migrant workers have lost their jobs in the past six months as a result of the global recession. As demand for products made in China drops, so do the living standards of millions of Chinese who have been lifted out of poverty as a result of the market reforms of the past few decades.
China correspondent Stephen McDonell travels with some of the country's blue collar factory workers as they leave their farms to look for work in the city.
They take an epic train journey from their remote village in the north of the country, to the industrial heartland of the south - the Pearl River delta, also known as the 'world's factory'.
Ironically, things had been looking up for the migrant workers until the financial tsunami hit late last year. Faced with a growing middle class and increasing worker unrest due to exploitation by unscrupulous employers, the Chinese government had introduced tougher labour laws giving workers greater rights.
Now employers are saying that in the current economic climate, they can't afford to implement them. However, concerns about social unrest in the face of growing unemployment means the labour laws will probably remain in place.
There's no question that China is experiencing a slow down - the big question is how slow, and how down? Australian workers are hoping that while twenty million Chinese have lost their jobs, some of ours will be saved by the fact that the world's factory will continue to churn out products made in China.
Transcript
MCDONELL: The horses of Antai village are being prepared for battle. There’s a big crowd in, and barely a vantage point left to get a glimpse of today’s highlight. The sight of two stallions induced into fighting over a mare simply for entertainment would appall many people but life can be tough in the mountains of Guangxi and there’s little room for sentimentality here. Apart from tradition, it’s also a pleasant diversion from the trying economic circumstances closing in on these farmers.
A few years ago it would have been hard to imagine that events on Wall Street could affect life in this mountain village, but even here the world financial crisis is being felt. When these celebrations are over, people will go to industrial cities looking for work. At this time throughout rural China, one hundred and thirty million people leave their farms to return only briefly every twelve months. In the cities they’ll become what’s known as ‘migrant workers’.
WEI SANCHE: ‘There are over 2000 people in our village. About 700 of them go to Guandong looking for jobs. The older people stay at home working in the cane fields.’
MCDONELL: In China a farmer can earn around four hundred Australian dollars a year. If they leave their farm and work in manufacturing, this will become more like two thousand seven hundred dollars a year. They can never own the land they work, because here land belongs to the State but if a farmer goes to the city to look for a job, they can lease out the right to use their farm.
Fifty-three year old Wei Sanche doesn’t have a problem with the young people leaving.
WEI SANCHE: ‘We are not sad. They go to Guandong to make some money and improve the lives of us older people back at home. We can use the money to buy houses. We’re happy.’
MCDONELL: But the villagers know that many factories have closed down and that this year it will be much harder for their people to find work. We’ll be travelling with them to see how they go. Migrant workers from all around this region arrive at the local train station. Though there are many industrial cities, Guandong Province in the south is their main destination. For some it’s still a great adventure.
YOUNG CHINESE MAN AT STATION: That area is developed and young people want to see the outside world. I want to go there and have a look. If I can find a good job I’ll stay there – if not, I’ll come back.’
MCDONELL: Yet for most, there’s really only one compelling reason to make this journey.
OLDER CHINESE MAN AT STATION: ‘It’s to earn a living, isn’t it? We go there for work. We are poor, so we go there to get jobs.’
MCDONELL: ‘What are your expectations in going there for work?’
OLDER CHINESE MAN AT STATION: ‘We just go. We’ve got no expectations.’
MCDONELL: The willingness to leave is one thing, but actually getting out of here is another. There are many more people than places and you can wait here for days to get on a train.
‘Despite the economic downturn there are still plenty of rural workers boarding this train in search of a better life. The tickets are pretty hard to come by - and the cheapest, they entitle you to stand up all the way on the 16 hour journey.’
China’s enormous rail system moves tens of millions of migrant workers to industrial centres in a little over a week. This annual mobilisation delivers the workforce, which has made the country’s manufacturing miracle possible, but twenty million of the jobs done by these blue collar workers have disappeared over the last year according to one government estimate.
As the train moves through the night, at every new station it’s the same story – more and more rural workers race along the platform to get on board. It’s not until we arrive in Guangzhou that you realise how many workers we’ve picked up along the way. The crowd surges out and into their uncertain city life.
Welcome to the Pearl River Delta, forty thousand heavily polluted square kilometres stretching from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Hundreds of thousands of enterprises, big and small, legal and illegal, the Chinese call this ‘The World’s Factory’. This was the birthplace of China’s new economy. In the 1980’s, former leader Deng Xiaoping granted it special economic status and from here the capitalist revolution would spread.
XIONG YAN: ‘I like this place a lot.’
MCDONELL: ‘Why?’
XIONG YAN: ‘It’s a kind of feeling. I really like it. It’s prettier than my home, so I like it here.’
MCDONELL: Here we meet twenty two year old Xiong Yan. She lost her job last year when the factory she worked in slashed staff numbers. Back in the mountain village, her father broke his arm recently. His treatment cost more than what she can earn in a year. She has to find work.
XIONG YAN: ‘My family is poor. Usually I’ll send them my salary. I’ll use a little bit of my pay for living expenses and save the rest to send back to support my family.’
MCDONELL: Xiong Yan pays this large employment agency the equivalent of half a week’s salary for a month of job searching and every day there are many thousands more people like her who come to sign up.
‘Well I’m stressing my Chinese skills a little bit here but just having a look at the work that’s on offer, we’ve got ji xie ji gong - it’s like a technician - and ji xie xue tu is like a technician’s assistant. I can see there’s a driver up there, English teacher and office assistant, so there are lots of different jobs on offer here but for every one of these jobs, there are plenty of applicants.’
There’s a sense of urgency in the job-hunting here. Most people only have enough money to survive for a matter of weeks. If the money runs out and they have no job, it’s mission failure.
XIONG YAN: ‘Too many people are looking for jobs now. It’s quite competitive. It’s going to get harder and harder.’
MCDONELL: Xiong Yan thinks she might have found a job she can get. At the service desk they screen her to see if she’s suitable, checking her job history. A telephone call to the company will determine if she gets an interview. She waits anxiously.
MCDONELL: ‘Have you found a possible job?’
XIONG YAN: ‘Yes.’
MCDONELL: ‘What kind of company is it?’
XIONG YAN: ‘An electrical wire company.’
MCDONELL: ‘How do you rate your chances?’
XIONG YAN: ‘Very good.’
MCDONELL: ‘Very good, eh? Did they give you an interview?’
XIONG YAN: ‘Yes, this afternoon at two o’clock.’
MCDONELL: ‘Well let’s go then.’
MCDONELL: There’s added pressure on Xiong Yan knowing that her family is relying on her, though she says she’s confident. It’s a job using a computer program that in reality she’s not used to. Inside the factory she’s questioned and tested for two hours. She re-emerges and it doesn’t look too good.
‘So what’s the result?’
XIONG YAN: ‘They said they’ll let me know. “Let me know” means I’ve failed.
MCDONELL: ‘Does it? Why?’
XIONG YAN: ‘It’s my fault. I’m not good enough. Their requirements are high. I’m a bit sad.
MCDONELL: ‘Why?’
XIONG YAN: ‘Because I really tried. I think this was a very good job. It’s what I want…but I’ve lost it. I’m sad.’
MCDONELL: 2009 has turned the tables on China’s migrant workers. Up until a year ago, things were starting to look up. The manufacturing business was booming and because of a labour shortage, companies were finally having to offer more money to attract workers.
DR LIU KAIMING: ‘For a long time the salaries of migrant workers have been incredibly low. With no social security, healthcare, or education rights in the city. That’s left them very poor.’
MCDONELL: Dr Liu Kaiming’s NGO specialises in migrant workers. He says employers and government officials have deliberately kept workers poor for the sake of the economy. His work is bringing him close to getting into serious trouble here.
DR LIU KAIMING: ‘The main reason migrant workers can’t change their fate is that China’s current government policy is to systematically exploit these farmers.’
MCDONELL: But China’s rulers know this has created an ever wider income gap. They turned a blind eye to it for a long time because the country was drunk on economic prosperity, but it was decided that enough was enough and last year new laws were introduced to protect the poorest workers. Meanwhile, there was trouble brewing overseas.
In a case of bad timing by the Chinese Government, its new provisions to help low paid workers have coincided with the World Economic Crisis. Many employers have complained about this additional cost in tough times so we’ve come here to meet the boss of a large manufacturing company to see what he thinks.
Cliff Sun from Hong Kong is the Managing Director of Kinox Enterprises which makes kitchenware, like coffee pots. Because 96% of his products are exported, he’s particularly exposed to the current crisis. He’s trying to sell into the local market but his goods are a bit too expensive for China. Sung says he can’t believe the Government has gone ahead with new provisions to protect workers in the current climate.
CLIFF SUN: ‘If a company would want to dismiss twenty persons or ten per cent of their workforce, whichever is less, then they have to give notice to the workers one month in advance.’
MCDONELL: ‘Do you think this is reasonable?’
CLIFF SUN: ‘No, it’s not.’
MCDONELL: Sun says his orders from Australia, America and Europe are down by thirty per cent and that he’s had to cut staff numbers by ten per cent. Under the new laws, a sacked employee gets a month’s salary for every year worked. Also a worker must become full time after two fixed term contracts. Cliff Sun says employees have a greater voice than employers at the moment and that this is putting enormous pressure on the bosses of the Pearl River Delta.
CLIFF SUN: ‘Unfortunately this was legislated when the economy was so good and everybody would say yeah, the employers should pay a little more, you know they should not be so greedy.’
DR LIU KAIMING: ‘The businessmen’s complaints are absolutely groundless. China’s been implementing policies favouring businessmen rather than workers. China’s been focussing on the interests of capitalists and economic development, ignoring workers’ rights and the implementation of the labour law.’
MCDONELL: Whoever’s right in this debate, the Government has stood firm on the new labour laws at a time when the stress on manufacturing is there to be seen.
‘This place used to make bicycles for export until it closed last year and all around Guandong this is what you’ll find - big empty factories available for lease. The funny thing is that the locals see an up-side to the current situation - if you want to get your hands on some cheap factory space, now’s the time to do it.’
For the companies who have survived, there are other benefits emerging from this crisis.
CLIFF SUN: ‘The people who have been working for us in the last years, we will not be able to lower their salary, no, but the new ones we are recruiting, we may offer them terms less attractive than we used to offer.’
MCDONELL: Into this mix of businesses closing, lower pay and higher unemployment, steps the man nicknamed the Migrant Worker’s General. Zhang Quanshou was once a migrant worker himself and now runs this labour supply company.
ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘Eyes right! Eyes front! Attention! Turn right!’
MCDONELL: Migrant workers, mostly in their twenties, come here to find work and they get a fair dose of the boot camp treatment on arrival.
ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘Hello Comrades!
GROUP: ‘Hello Boss!’
ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘This year the global economic crisis has made it hard for migrant workers to get jobs. Comrades, don’t worry. You need to have faith that it’s going to get better for all of us.
‘They’ll have work to do, and food to eat, and they’ll make money. I’m asking them to trust me. Because I’m encouraging them, I’ve got to keep my word. I’ve got to find work for them.’
MCDONELL: ‘For them… this year, compared to last year?
ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘Much worse.’
MCDONELL: ‘Much worse?’
ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘Yes. Last year my company had over 10,000 workers. This year we have only 5,000 or 6,000, and 3,000 or 4,000 of them have found work. Over 1,000 workers have no jobs.‘
MCDONELL: The General’s workers get free board and meals here, even if he hasn’t found them a job. He’ll take a cut of their salary once they start getting paid.
YOUNG CHINESE WOMAN AT CAMP: ‘We don’t miss home. We’re a big family. We kill time by chatting and having fun together. We all come from the one company. We talk, we laugh, everything’s okay. And the company’s facilities are quite good.’
MCDONELL: In an uncertain time they feel like they have some protection here. The food that’s served is what these young workers eat back at home. It’s a bit of comfort. The General is now a delegate to China’s annual session of Parliament. He’s become a man with connections. In China that means he’s well placed to stitch up business deals.
ZHANG QUANSHOU: ‘They’ll have to wait here for a while but gradually they’ll get work. It’s only a matter of time.’
MCDONELL: And sure enough, teams of workers are seen forming up in lines. Without any great fanfare, those who’ve been found a job grab their things and head out the front gate. The buses are waiting to take them to their new factory homes. It’s this peaceful resolution to the current crisis that the Government is hoping to see more of. What they fear is something else.
‘There’s an unspoken pact between the Chinese people and their leaders. The Government delivers an ever improving economy and the people don’t pour back into Tianamen Square to protest. That’s why officials have declared that the country’s economic growth rate can’t be allowed to fall below eight per cent to avoid any form of social instability.
DR LIU KAIMING: ‘The biggest threat is that unemployed migrant workers may start to protest against the government, challenge the legitimacy of the government and even ask the government and the Communist Party to step down.’
MCDONELL: ‘What’s the chance of this actually happening?’
DR LIU KAIMING: ‘About a 30% chance. The probable result is that these threats won’t happen. But there is a 30% chance that a mass incident like 1989 will occur.’
MCDONELL: Of course this could all be avoided if the Chinese Government’s eight hundred billion dollar stimulus package boosts local demand enough. The strategy is to get the wheels of commerce moving by freeing up loans, bringing forward infrastructure projects and encouraging Chinese people to start spending more to make up for lost export revenue.
CLIFF SUN: ‘The manufacturing sectors will probably be the first to recover. The financial tsunami really is hurting the stock market, the banks, the real estate property, the market – those are being hard hit and it takes a long time for them to recover – but in the retail level, in the consumer market there is always demand, you know, for certain necessities.’
MCDONELL: And the manufacturing sector has come good for our persistent job seeker. Xiong Yan has found work as a graphic illustrator in a clothing company. Her city life is looking up.
XIONG YAN: ‘Once I’ve saved some money I will send it back home. And my dad is in charge of how to spend it. They won’t waste the money. They’ll use the money for what they need – like for growing crops they’ll need fertiliser…or tuition for my elder sister.’
MCDONELL: Some villagers will lose half their income if the people don’t go to work in the cities. Yet China’s migrant workers, like its entire rural population, are remarkably resilient. In recent decades they’ve put down the plough and taken up the soldering iron. If some of them now have to return to farming to ride out this economic downturn, at least they’ll survive and that’s what they’ll tell you it’s all about, to survive whatever crisis is thrown at you and live for a better day. 感谢楼主翻译。。。太不容易了。这么一大篇。金融危机确实影响太大。。我也打算换工作但是还是有点担心！ 感谢楼主翻译。。。太不容易了。这么一大篇。金融危机确实影响太大。。我也打算换工作但是还是有点担心！
f-kcnn 发表于 2009-3-30 16:35 http://bbs.m4.cn/images/common/back.gif
我也是一个感性的人，前段时间也为工作的事情苦恼。。。所以在看这篇文章很好感触。。。
特别是那些年纪轻轻就要出来工作养家的人，心生可怜，但又无法帮助他们。。。 从来不担心经济危机,或者说中国人面对困难所表现出的忍耐力和理性.
但是,无论如何,社会分配不公永远是个潜在的威胁,这和经济好或者坏没有本质联系,不过是压垮最后一根稻草的条件而已.所以,政府应该重视并为止改变.
中国,一直以来,包括在封建社会,都是个让贫民有翻身希望的社会;这和国外一些地方,让穷人一辈子连翻身的希望都没有,已经是大大的进步,首先,我们应该看到我们社会的进步点.
但是,如果我们仅仅给了这些人希望,而多数人根本无力改变的时候,也许比不给他们希望更糟糕. 新劳动法很不好。应该暂时废除。工人得到更多的权利＝工厂没钱＝工人失业，到头来生活比以前旧劳动法时期还差。 在很多西方人看来，中国如果不能保持8%的经济增长率，民众就一定要闹事了。 楼主辛苦了.. 没有仔细看，但是，感觉这个撰文的老外好象掉进传销窝里了。。。 好长哦!看着都麻烦,更别提翻译的辛苦了.谢谢! 麦：一些村民会失去他们一半的收入，如果他们不能到城里工作。中国的流动民工，如整个农村人口，是非常坚韧的。在当前数十年间，他们已经放下了犁，拿起了烙铁。如果他们中的一些人现在回去耕作，以渡过这个经济萎缩，至少，他们可以存活下来，这就是他们要告诉你的所有的东西。无论什么危机你都可以渡过和活得更好。
2 S% g/ IT7 FAC四月青年社区
' d1 i% b" b, H" _3 x0 c# _! V 好长哦!看着都麻烦,更别提翻译的辛苦了.谢谢!
无可就要 发表于 2009-4-1 02:13 http://bbs.m4.cn/images/common/back.gif
同感！楼主辛苦了！ 支持 楼主大论
页:
[1]