VII. Реферативный перевод

Подготовьте реферативный перевод текста «U. S. Labor unions».

Whereas the drive for success is firmly entrenched in American ideology what is curiously absent is focused ideological support for America's labor unions. Although a legal framework for worker representation and collective bargaining was established by legislation in the 1930s, labor unions in America do not have the power or political direction of their counterparts in Europe.

Achievements of European labor, such as worker participation in corporate strategy in West Germany and nationalization of industries in Great Britain seem radical compared with the achievements of American workers. Some significant gains American labor unions have won for their members include benefits such as increases in overtime pay, paid vacations, premium pay for night work, and employer subsidized health insurance plans. Although American workers are now beginning to focus their demands more on job security than benefits, few employees can aspire to the job security won by unions in continental Europe. In America, lay-offs of blue-collar workers in industries such as automobiles, aerospace, and shipbuilding are routine. In Europe, corporations are deterred from laying off workers. Laws require companies to make costly redundancy payment to workers who are dismissed.

One explanation for this difference between labor unions in Europe and America is that American workers have traditionally valued self-reliance and individualism. Furthermore, the lack of rigid class distinctions has given to many workers the feeling that they are not permanently destined to a working-class existence. The lack of class consciousness and the belief that one can rise to a higher station in life through individual effort help explain why socialism has not gained mass appeal as a unifying ideology among American workers.

Today the largest American labor union is the joint AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. The AFL-CIO is active in the world labor movement. It is an affiliate of the International confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) which has members in 95 counties and territories.

American labor unions today are losing members and influence. In 1950, as many as 1 in 3 wage earners were union members. Now that percentage has dropped to 18 percent and shows signs of shrinking further. The AFL-CIO has also been troubled by a sharp decline in membership. Between 1975 and 1985, membership dropped from 14 million to 11 million workers.

The decline in labor membership is related to the changing trends in the economy as a whole. Foreign competition has depressed many U.S. industries and left many workers unemployed. The decline in manufacturing industries, once a stronghold of unionism, and the rise in service and high-tech industries, which employ fewer blue-collar workers, has contributed to the decline of America's labor unions. Another explanation for the unions' loss of membership is the movement of many industries to the South, where right-to-work laws hinder union organizers.

Automation and other technological innovations in industrial production have displaced many blue-collar workers. The transition to a post-industrial economy presents challenges not only to labor unions, but to all sectors of the U.S. economy.