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就业与冲突:赞比亚矿山的中国投资迷思

来源:华尔街日报 编辑:justxrh   可可英语APP下载 |  可可官方微信:ikekenet

Billions of dollars in investment from China has thrown a lifeline to Zambia's ailing mines, but the money has also brought new problems, as Zambian miners at Chinese ventures complain about safety, low pay and workplace conflicts that have spiraled into a spate of shootings.

中国数以十亿美元计的投资给赞比亚陷入困境的矿山扔下了一条救命绳,但这些投资也带来了新的问题:在中资企业工作的赞比亚矿工抱怨不安全、工资低以及工作中发生冲突等问题。这些不满不断发酵,已经导致一系列枪击案的发生。
The Zambian government is investigating the latest clash, on Aug. 4, when rioting workers at a coal mine in southern Zambia killed a 50-year old Chinese supervisor, running him over with a mining cart. Two other Chinese managers were injured in the violence at Collum Coal mine─a locally-registered but Chinese-owned company─and 16 Zambians were arrested. Zambian officials and a Collum executive blame the revolt on a misunderstanding as to when a minimum-wage increase would take effect, increasing monthly salaries to $230 from $150.
赞比亚政府正在调查发生在8月4日的最新一起冲突。当天赞比亚南部科蓝煤矿(Collum Coal Mine)的矿工发生暴动,期间用手推车辗死了一名50岁的中国籍监工。另有两名中国经理在暴乱中受伤,16名赞比亚人被捕。科蓝煤矿在赞比亚注册,但老板是中国人。赞比亚官员和科蓝煤矿一位高管认为,发生暴乱的原因在于工人对最低工资上调(从每月150美元调至230美元)何时生效产生了误解。
At the same mine, in 2010, Chinese managers shot at least 13 striking coal miners. Two managers spent several months in jail and the company paid about $80,000 in total to the victims, all of whom survived.
2010年在同一座煤矿,中方经理开枪,至少击中13名罢工的矿工。两位经理入狱数月,公司共向受害者赔偿约8万美元。此次事件中没有受害者死亡。
Tensions arising from these incidents, and government-mandated pay increases, have led some at Collum to question whether Zambia is still a good place to invest. 'If costs get too high, Zambia will be hurt,' says a Chinese executive at Collum who didn't want to be identified discussing such politically sensitive issues. 'Investors will think about going to other countries.'
这些事件引发的矛盾,以及政府强制要求的工资上涨,让科蓝煤矿的一些人士怀疑赞比亚是否还是一个理想的投资目的地。科蓝煤矿的一位中国高管说,如果成本太高,赞比亚会受到伤害,投资者会考虑去别的国家。因为所谈话题在政治上敏感,这位高管不愿公开身份。
Zambia is one of Africa's biggest recipients of Chinese investment, and the bulk of the capital goes to the mining sector─copper in the north and coal in the south. But officials are struggling to contain mounting aounting anger among miners, who accuse China of exploiting Zambia's resources and taking advantage of its workers. The worker hostility has tested Zambia's ties with China, foreshadowing challenges for other African governments doing business with the continent's No. 1 trading partner and investor.
赞比亚是中国在非洲最大的投资目的地之一,多数资金都进入了矿业部门,包括北部地区的铜矿和南部地区的煤矿。但矿工指责中国掠夺赞比亚资源、剥削赞比亚工人,怒火越烧越旺,政府很难控制。矿工的敌意考验着赞比亚与中国的关系,且让人看到,非洲其他国家跟这个大洲最大的贸易伙伴与投资者做生意,将会遇到怎样的挑战。
'The Chinese are just here to make a profit, to make their country rich,' says Paul Kameya, a 25-year-old miner at NFCA Mining, the Zambian unit of China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd. The parent company controls a mine, smelter and a bulk of the business activity in the dry shrub-land of Chambishi, home of a new investment zone that hosts several other Chinese companies in Zambia's northern Copperbelt province. 'We are slaves in our own country.' says Mr. Kameya.
25岁的矿工卡米亚(Paul Kameya)在中国有色矿业集团有限公司(China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd.)旗下的赞比亚公司NFCA Mining工作。他说,中国人到这里只为挣钱,为他们自己的国家发财。中国有色矿业集团在谦比希(Chambishi)干旱的灌木丛地带拥有一座矿山、一座精炼厂,并控制着当地的大部分经济活动。谦比希位于北方的铜带省,这里刚刚建了一个投资园区,已有另外多家中资企业入驻。卡米亚说,我们在自己的国家成了奴隶。
Worker unrest is just one of the challenges stemming from China's growing presence in Africa─its citizens have become targets for criminals and rebels seeking to settle scores. In July, Chinese and Angolan police broke up a number of criminal gangs that had been involved in armed robbery, human trafficking and prostitution. Earlier this year, rebels abducted 29 Chinese workers in Sudan, creating a rift with one of China's top oil suppliers.
工人骚乱只是中国在非洲日益增长的影响力引发的问题之一,在这里,中国公民已经成为犯罪分子和叛乱分子寻衅的目标。今年7月,中国和安哥拉警方粉碎了一系列参与武装抢劫、贩卖人口和卖淫活动的犯罪团伙。今年早些时候,叛乱分子在苏丹绑架了29名中国工人,导致该国与中国一家重要石油供应商的关系出现裂痕。
The influx of Chinese entrepreneurs has rankled ordinary Africans, too. In Zambia, politicians complain that Chinese chicken farmers are squeezing out locals in the competition to supply restaurants and corporate canteens.
中国企业家的大批涌入也激起了非洲普通人的怨恨。在赞比亚,一些政府官员抱怨,中国的养鸡户抢了当地人为餐馆和企业食堂供货的生意。
Last year, Zambian President Michael Sata defeated incumbent Rupiah Banda, partly by gaining blue-collar support for criticizing Chinese investment practices. In earlier campaigns, he threatened to deport Chinese investors, sever ties with China and recognize its archrival Taiwan. He has done none of those things since being elected, but has instead welcomed China's investment, so long as Chinese firms respect local labor laws.
去年,赞比亚总统萨塔(Michael Sata)击败了在任总统班达(Rupiah Banda),部分原因在于他通过批评中国在赞比亚的投资获得了蓝领工人的支持。在更早的竞选活动中,他曾威胁遣返中国投资者,与中国断交,承认台湾政府的主权。自从当选之后,这些事一件也没有兑现,相反,他欢迎中国的投资,前提是中国公司尊重当地的劳动法规。
In July, Zambia raised the minimum wage for different work classes by 67% on average. The aim was to create better-paying jobs for locals and a level playing field for investors, say Zambian officials.
今年7月,赞比亚提高了不同工种的最低工资水平,平均增幅达67%。赞比亚官员说,这么做的目的是为当地人提供收入更好的工作,让投资者在平等的平台上竞争。
'We have to be mindful these people need a living wage,' says Robert Sichinga, minister of commerce, trade and industry. 'If it reduces the number of jobs, it means the jobs were poor quality anyways.'
赞比亚商业、贸易与工业部部长西钦加(Robert Sichinga)说,我们必须记住这些人需要能够维持生活的工资,如果最低工资水平提高令工作的数量减少,这就意味着这些工作原本就不是什么好工作。
China's ambassador has warned the wage increase threatened Chinese enterprises, according to local newspaper reports. The Chinese Embassy in Zambia declined interview requests. An embassy statement following the recent clash at Collum coal mine, which led to the death of the Chinese manager, called for Chinese companies 'to abide by the law and regulations of the land' and urged Zambian officials 'to take concrete measures to protect the safety and security and the legitimate rights of the Chinese business community.'
当地报纸报道,中国驻赞比亚大使警告说,上调最低工资水平威胁到了中国的企业。中国驻赞比亚大使拒绝了采访请求。最近导致中国一名监工死亡的科蓝煤矿冲突发生之后,中国驻赞比亚大使馆发表声明,要求中国企业遵守当地法律法规,敦促赞比亚官员采取切实行动保护中国商业团体的安全、生活保障和合法权益。
Beijing bristles at criticism it has followed in the footsteps of European colonialists to extract Africa's resource riches. Officials point to flagship projects that bolstered the economic independence of African countries and cemented friendly ties. Chinese engineers and workers, for example, toiled in the early 1970's on a railway linking a port in Tanzania with Zambia's copper-rich northern region.
中国政府对于有关中国跟随欧洲殖民者的脚步榨取非洲资源的指责感到恼火。中国官员举出了一些曾有助于非洲国家经济独立和加强友好关系的旗舰项目的例子。例如,上世纪70年代早期,中国的工程师和工人曾历尽艰辛完成了一个连接坦桑尼亚港口和赞比亚铜矿资源丰富的北部地区的铁路项目。
Today, companies from China are making a deep impact in the same place.
如今,中国企业正在同一地区发挥深层次的影响。
The Zambia Development Agency says China Nonferrous alone has invested some $2 billion in the country. Its mines have often maintained a full workforce even when they weren't active, according to Zambian officials. Chinese officials say 10,000 jobs for Zambians have come from China's mining and infrastructure investments in the country.
赞比亚发展署(Zambia Development Agency)说,单是中国有色集团就在赞比亚投资了大约20亿美元。赞比亚官员说,即使是在淡季,中国有色集团所投资的矿也常常出现工人数量满员的情况。中国官员说,中国对该国矿业和基础设施的投资给赞比亚人创造了1万个就业机会。
Yet safety regulators have hit the Zambian units of China Nonferrous with a series of fines for infractions and clashes with workers has marred its local reputation. Early on, miners lacked boots, goggles and ear protection, according to Brighton Kateka, chief inspector of machinery at the Mines Safety Department, under Zambia's Ministry of Mines. He says safety at the Chinese-owned mines has since improved.
但赞比亚安全监管部门以违规以及与工人发生冲突为由给中国有色集团赞比亚分支机构开出的一系列罚单损害了该公司在当地的声誉。赞比亚矿业部下属矿山安全处首席机械监察员卡特卡(Brighton Kateka)说,早期,矿工缺少防护靴、护目镜及护耳等劳保设备。他说中资煤矿的安全条件自那以后有所改善。
'When the Chinese first came, they didn't know the laws of Zambia. We found it difficult to work with them,' said Mr. Kateka, himself a former NFCA miner.
卡特卡说,中国人刚来的时候不了解赞比亚法律,我们发现很难与他们合作。卡特卡此前也是NFCA Mining的一名矿工。
In 2005, an explosion at a company associated with China Nonferrous killed more than 40 workers, said Mr. Kateka, one of the industry's most deadly accidents.
卡特卡说,2005年,中国有色集团附属的一家公司发生爆炸,40多名工人遇难。这成为该行业伤亡最大的事故之一。
The next year, six Zambians were shot by 'mine personnel' in Chambishi, police said, without specifying whether they were Chinese or Zambians. The incident followed a protest at the living quarters of Chinese managers.
赞比亚警方说,2006年在谦比希有六名赞比亚人被“矿上职员”枪杀。不过警方没有说明凶手是中国人还是赞比亚人。此事发生后,中方管理人员的生活区发生了一起抗议活动。
Late last year, the Chambishi unit of China Nonferrous Metals was forced to rehire 1,000 miners it had fired to during a wage strike. The move came after mediation between the Zambian government and unions.
去年年底,中国有色集团谦比希分支机构被迫重新雇用1,000名此前因在要求涨薪而发生的罢工中被解雇的矿工。赞比亚政府和工会之间此前曾进行过调解。
Executives at China Nonferrous units in Chambishi declined interview requests and a spokesman at the company's Beijing headquarters declined to respond to written questions.
中国有色集团谦比希分支机构负责人拒绝接受采访,中国有色集团北京总部发言人拒绝回答记者的书面提问。
Some Zambian union leaders say language gaps and culture clashes are as much to blame for labor frictions as wage differences. Zambian miners dozing in their carts have been doused with pots of water; others have been penalized for arriving to work 10 minutes late; and once when a forklift broke down, three Chinese workers took up the load as Zambians stood by, believing it was too heavy, according to Sikufela Mundia, president of the National Union of Miners and Allied Workers.
赞比亚一些工会领导人说,除工资差异外,语言差异以及文化冲突也是造成劳资矛盾的重要原因。赞比亚国家矿工及联合工人工会(National Union of Miners and Allied Workers)主席蒙迪亚(Sikufela Mundia)说,在手推车内打个盹的赞比亚矿工会被泼上几盆水;也有人因为上班迟到10分钟而受到处罚;有一次,一辆叉车发生故障,三名中国工人扛起了货物,而赞比亚矿工则在一边旁观,因为他们认为货物过重。
The Chinese managers wanted the workers reprimanded for wasting time, but Mr. Mundia says the heavy load presented a safety issue. He says the two sides resolved their differences.
中方管理人员会因为工人浪费时间而对其进行训斥,但蒙迪亚说,让工人负重载会带来安全问题。他说后来双方解决了分歧。
'The way the Chinese work is a bit strange to us,' he says.
蒙迪亚说,中国人的工作方式在我们看来有点不习惯。
Mr. Kameya, the copper miner, says Zambians in the area will continue to go to work at Chinese-owned mines as that is where most of the new jobs are. The rock blaster says his pay of $390 a month isn't sufficient to support his wife and young daughter, but if he asks for a raise, he worries he'll be fired.
在铜矿工作的矿工卡米亚说,该地区的赞比亚人还是会继续到中资矿企工作,因为大多数的新就业机会来自这里。卡米亚说,他的薪水为每月390美元,不足以养活妻子和年幼的女儿,但如果要求加薪,他担心自己会被解雇。
'The job is OK,' he says. 'The conditions are not OK.'
卡米亚说,工作还成,但工作环境不行。

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