惡性通脹導致生活質量驟降 英國掀起罷工潮

面對創下40年新高的通脹水平和飛漲的生活成本，英國各行各業的人忍無可忍，紛紛走上街頭要求漲薪。鐵路工人、郵政人員、工程師、記者、律師都陸續加入了罷工者的行列。

Waste overflows from bins during a strike by workers in Edinburgh, Scotland, on August 27. (Photo/Reuters)

Workers in the United Kingdom have had enough of falling living standards.

英國的工人們已經受夠了不斷下降的生活標準。

Rail workers, journalists, lawyers, and postal workers have gone on strike in recent weeks to demand higher pay as inflation soars to its highest level in decades.

隨著通脹飆升至幾十年來最高水平，過去幾周，鐵路工人、記者、律師、郵政人員都已經罷工要求漲薪。

At least 155,000 workers are currently on strike, including staff at the country’s postal service, and engineers and call center workers for telecom provider BT (BTGOF). Two rail unions on Wednesday announced further strike action by 14,000 of their members later this month.

目前至少有15.5萬名工人參加了罷工，包括英國郵政人員、工程師和英國電信客服。8月31日兩家鐵路工會宣佈1.4萬名會員將於本月晚些時候罷工。

More strikes could be on the way this fall, threatening unprecedented disruption across a range of industries. Teachers, doctors and nurses are set to vote on strike action in the coming weeks. Unite and Unison — the country’s biggest unions with 2.7 million members in total — are calling for others to join them in synchronized action.

今年秋天還將有更多罷工發生，可能導致一系列行業出現前所未有的混亂。教師、醫生和護士將在未來幾周就罷工行動進行投票。會員總人數達到270萬的英國兩大工會組織Unite和Unison正在呼籲更多會員加入進來，採取一致行動。

It is one of the most significant waves of industrial unrest the United Kingdom has seen since the “winter of discontent” in the late 1970s when rampant inflation pushed workers to stage mass walkouts. About 7.9 million working days were lost between November 1978 and February 1979, according to the Office for National Statistics.

這是英國自上世紀70年代末的“不滿之冬”以來最嚴重的罷工潮之一，當時同樣是惡性通脹迫使工人實行大規模罷工。英國國家統計局的資料顯示，1978年11月至1979年2月期間，英國損失了約790萬個工作日。

Soaring prices and years of stagnant wages are the backdrop to this year’s disputes. Consumer price inflation hit a 40-year high of 10.1% in July. Forecasters at Citigroup said last week that inflation could shoot past 18% at the start of next year, and Goldman Sachs thinks it could even hit 22% if gas prices don’t fall soon.

今年罷工潮的背後是飛漲的物價和多年不漲的工資。英國7月份的通脹水平達到了10.1%，創下了40年新高。據花旗集團的專家上週預測，明年年初通脹率可能會突破18%。高盛集團認為，如果油價不在短期內回落，通脹率甚至可能高達22%。

Workers are already feeling the strain. Average real wages, which account for inflation, fell by 3% between April and June, compared with the same period last year. That was the biggest hit to spending power in more than 20 years. Real wages barely increased in the decade to 2020.

工人們已經感受到了生活的重壓。反映通脹水平的平均實際工資在4月至6月間同比下降了3%。這是二十多年來對購買力的最大打擊。在2020年之前的十年裡，實際工資幾乎就沒漲過。

And average household energy bills — which have already risen 54% this year — are set to increase by another 80% to £3,549 ($4,124) in October. According to estimates by Auxilione, a research firm, average bills could hit £7,700 ($8,949) next April — equivalent to a £642 ($746) monthly bill.

今年英國家庭平均能源支出已經上漲了54%，而且10月份還將再上漲80%，達到3549英鎊（約合人民幣28220元）。據調研公司Auxilione估計，到明年4月，英國家庭平均能源支出將達到7700英鎊，相當於每個月支出642英鎊。

The United Kingdom has “never seen [this] level of disruption across all sectors,” Chiara Benassi, an associate professor in comparative employment relations at King’s College London, told CNN Business.

倫敦國王學院比較僱傭關係學副教授奇亞拉·貝納西告訴美國有線電視新聞網商業頻道，英國“從未出現過這種程度的各行各業混亂局面”。

In recent months, the cost-of-living crisis has acted as a “trigger” for widespread grievances that have been building up over a long period of time, she said.

她指出，近幾個月來，生活成本危機成了長時間積累起來的廣大民怨的一根“導火索”。

"These strikes affect not only [what] we would say [are] manual occupations or low-skilled jobs that more evidently would struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, but also highly-skilled jobs like junior doctors, British Telecom engineers, barristers, academics, teachers,” Benassi said.

貝納西說：“這些罷工不僅影響到了我們所謂的體力勞動或低技能職業（從事這些職業的人顯然更易陷入生活成本危機），也影響到了實習醫生、英國電信的工程師、律師、學者和教師等高技能職業。”

UK unemployment was 3.8% between April and June this year, ONS data shows. That’s its lowest level in more than 50 years. There was also one unemployed person for every job vacancy — a record low.

英國國家統計局的資料顯示，今年4月至6月英國失業率為3.8%，是50多年來的最低水平。崗位空缺和失業者的比例為1：1，這也是歷史低值。

"It means that many workers are in work and they are in a good position to ask for [a pay] increase. They cannot be easily replaced [at a macro level],” said Manuela Galetto, associate professor of employment relations at the University of Warwick’s Business School.

華威大學商學院僱傭關係學副教授曼紐拉·加萊託說：“這意味著許多工人都有工作，他們處於要求加薪的有利位置，（從宏觀層面上看）不會輕易被替代。”