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十一月的某一天黎明拂晓之际，我去沃尔玛超市(Wal-Mart)观察一下美国梦的阴暗面，回家的时候，带回了圣诞节的彩灯。节俭战胜了我的使命。最近有关沃尔玛的诉讼让人觉得，沃尔玛的职工正身处一种独特的美国式的农奴制中。这是我沃尔玛之行的目的，就是想要去看看那里职工的辛苦工作。
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I went to Wal-Mart the other day to
gaze on the dark side of the American dream - and I came home with Christmas
lights. Frugality got the better of my philosophy. I went to the store, at the
crack of a November dawn, determined to feel the pain of the Wal-Mart workforce,
which - if lawsuits are any guide - are held in a peculiarly American form of
serfdom. |
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据称被压低的工资、超常的工作时间、社保的不足和不公平的提升机制，这些待遇把沃尔玛的工人推向一个老话题：美国是怎样挣钱的？
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Allegedly underpaid, overworked,
under-insured and unfairly promoted, Wal-Mart workers have been thrustsintosthe
centre of a very old argument about how America makes its money. |
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剥削那些移民的劳动对不对？即便说他们甘愿冒贫困之险，希冀这是登往富裕殿堂的奠脚石----其实可能永远实现不了，剥削那些移民的劳动到底对不对？这一切是否都只是资本主义的运行规律而已——最廉价者生存(survival
of the cheapest)？ |
Is it right to exploit the labour of
immigrants willing to risk penury as a stepping-stone to a prosperity that may
never materialise? Is that just the way capitalism works: survival of the
cheapest? |
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或者，我们已然超越了那个丛林法则阶段，而进入了一个新的世界？在这个世界里，移民也是人，并且理应享受工会要求的工资底线。沃尔玛突然变成美国举国上下，一场关于公正和资本主义辩论的导火线。
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Or have we moved beyond that state
of nature, to a worldswheresimmigrants are people too, and deserve a union wage?
Wal-Mart has suddenly become a lightning-rod for a new national debate about
justice and capitalism. |
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然而，当我一驶进当地那家沃尔玛巨大的停车场，穿过特大型的商店大门的时候，我就忘了还有什么文化之争，忘了《商业周刊》(Business
Week)起的“本顿维尔怪兽” 的绰号。(Beast of Bentonville，以沃尔玛在阿肯色州的总部所在地，本顿维尔市命名。) |
But as soon as I entered the vast
car park of the local Wal-Mart, and walked through its oversized door, I forgot
there was a cultural debate waging around what Business Week calls the "Beast of
Bentonville" (after Wal-Mart's backwaters headquarters in Arkansas).
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我注意到那些面容疲惫的移民工作人员，和同样疲惫的移民顾客。但真正攫住我的目光的，是那些30美元都不到的玩具厨，它们同真的厨具一般大小；还有那些一大盒的圣诞卡，都不到一杯星巴克拿铁咖啡的价钱。
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I noticed the apparently weary
immigrant staff (and the equally weary immigrant clientele) but what really
caught my eye was the full- sized toy kitchen for less than (£18), and the
huge box of Christmas cards for less than a Starbucks latte. |
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我的两个刚会走路的孩子坐在手推车里，吵着要降价的芭比娃娃和印着《海底总动员》的包装纸，我的重要使命也就转眼被抛在了脑后。况且，那位接待我们的服务员也丝毫没让我想起此行的使命，她神采奕奕，滔滔不绝。她说她是从多哥来的，却没有提她的医疗保险花多少钱。
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With two toddlers in the trolley
clamouring for cut-price Barbies and Finding Nemo wrapping paper, I quickly
forgot the big picture. And there was no reminder from the cheerful and chatty
lady who served us: she mentioned that she was from Togo; she did not mention
the cost of her health insurance. |
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目前，由于我的橱柜已经装满了格子呢桌布和圣诞节装饰品，我不得不正视这样一种可能性，即在某些境况下，节俭可能并不是一种美德，而是种罪恶。
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But now that my cupboard is full of
tartan tablecloths and Santa centrepieces for the holidays, I can no longer
ignore the possibility that frugality could - in certain circumstances - be not
a virtue but a crime. |
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想象一下由一桩桩罪恶的节俭导致的情景吧：一个零售业巨擘把店面清洗工作承包了出去，但承包价是如此之低，以至于承包人只有靠雇用非法移民，不为他们缴纳税金和保险，才能将这桩生意做下来。零售商将省下的费用让利给了消费者，这个交易似乎令人皆大欢喜：公司的生意兴隆了，消费者省了钱，雇员也在这里挣到了更多的钱，比他自己一贫如洗的国家强多了。这样双赢的交易怎么可能违法呢？
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Consider this scenario for a scheme
of criminal frugality: a giant retailer contracts out the cleaning of its
stores, at rates that could be satisfied only by contractors who hire illegal
immigrants and pay no taxes or insurance for them. The retailer passes the cost
savings along to consumers, and all appear pleased with the bargain: the company
prospers, consumers save and employees earn more than they would in their own
impoverished nations. Surely such a win-win deal cannot be illegal?
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移民劳动法专家认为，就沃尔玛及其移民问题，法庭会怎么判根本无从得知。但他们同意，该判决会对沃尔玛产生巨大的影响，而任何对这一全球最大的私营企业雇主的伤害，都可能伤害到全球最大的经济体。
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Experts in immigrant employment law
say it is not at all clear how courts will rule, in the matter of Wal-Mart and
its immigrants. But they agree that the ruling could have a big impact on
Wal-Mart: and what hurts the world's biggest private sector employer could hurt
the world's biggest economy. |
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所有和沃尔玛有关的东西都非常大，它所涉及的诉讼案也不例外。目前，它面临一宗由其女雇员提起的性别歧视案，如果此案发展成为集体诉讼的话，那可能成为美国有史以来最大的一起雇佣诉讼案。此外它还面临一系列声称未付加班工资的起诉。
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Everything about Wal-Mart is big,
and its lawsuits are no exception: it faces a sex discrimination lawsuit from
female employees that, if allowed to go forward as a class action, could be the
largest employment lawsuit in American history; and it faces a range of suits
alleging unpaid overtime. |
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但真正把沃尔玛推进文化之战的，是美国联邦政府关于其如何清洗店面的调查。
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But what has really catapulted
Wal-Martsintosthe culture wars is a federal investigation of how it cleans its
stores. |
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上个月，美国联邦调查人员突击抽查了60家分布美国各州的沃尔玛超市，带走了250名值全夜班的看门人和大量文件。他们希望以违反移民法为由，对该零售商立案调查。虽然至今还没有任何起诉被提出，但诉讼的可能性很大。届时案件的争议点会是：沃尔玛是否知道，其清洗承包商雇用了非法移民来擦地板？它能否合理地声称，自己没有注意到？
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Last month federal agents raided
60-odd Wal-Marts across the nation and picked up 250 all-night janitors and many
documents, hoping to make a case against the retailer for immigration
violations. No charges have yet been brought, but they probably will be. And
then the issue will be: did Wal-Mart know its cleaning subcontractors were
hiring illegal aliens to mop the floors? Can it plausibly claim not to have
noticed? |
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常识表明，沃尔玛的经理们一定已经意识到，如果看门人既不会说英语，又愿意为了每小时6美元不到的工钱，每天每夜不休息地工作，那他很可能是非法移民。但常识不是法定的证据标准。沃尔玛说，它想过这些人是非法移民，但不管怎样，核实每一个在庞大帝国工作的人（沃尔玛承包商和供应商）的合法性，这不是它的责任。
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Common sense suggests that Wal-Mart
managers must have realised that if janitors did not speak English and were
willing to work every night without a break, for less than an hour, they were
probably illegal. But common sense is not a legal standard of proof. Wal-Mart
says it thought they were legal - but that in any case it is not its
responsibility to verify the legality of every person in the vast empire of
Wal-Mart contractors and suppliers. |
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在关于沃尔玛的责任这一关键问题上，法律并不明确。美利坚大学华盛顿法学院
(American University's Washington College of Law) 研究移民权利的律师，萨拉•保莱蒂(Sarah
Paoletti)认为，沃尔玛为该工作设定这么低的工钱，可能就足以证明，它推定知道(constructive
knowledge)承包商雇用非法外裔的情况。但她对这一点也并不肯定。而萧•皮特曼律师事务所(Shaw Pittman)的利兹•斯特恩(Liz
Stern)则说，如果沃尔玛基于这一点被定罪的话，她会相当“震惊”。斯特恩女士为企业雇用移民提供咨询意见。 |
The law is not clear on the crucial
matter of Wal-Mart's responsibility. Sarah Paoletti, an immigrants' rights
lawyer at American University's Washington College of Law, says the cheap rate
set for such work by Wal-Mart may be enough to prove "constructive knowledge"
that contractors were hiring illegal aliens. But she is not sure. And Liz Stern
of the law firm Shaw Pittman, who advises businesses on immigrant employment,
says she would be "shocked" if Wal-Mart were convicted on such a basis.
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她认为，按照那样的标准，没有人会是安全的：没有一个公民能放心让一个合同工女佣来打扫房间；每一个家庭主妇都必须检查来者的签证。这样的责任链把我们都拴死了。
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By that standard, nobody would be
safe, she suggests: no citizen could rely on a contract maid to clean the house;
every visa would have to be checked by every matron. The web of liability would
ensnare us all. |
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然而不管沃尔玛发生了什么，联邦起诉也好，还是一些看门人趁此一起提出的民事诉讼，这一案件很可能在移民劳动领域，创立新的法律。
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But whatever happens to Wal-Mart -
either in the federal prosecution, or in the civil lawsuit filed by some of the
janitors to piggyback on the federal action - the case is likely to make new law
in the area of immigrant employment. |
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不过，这将仅仅回答沃尔玛是否违反了现行法律这一问题。它不能解决一个更大的矛盾，即如何才能将公正和资本主义调和？这不是法官，而是立法者应当解决的问题，因为这不仅仅关系到沃尔玛商店，更重要的是，关系到沃尔玛这一文化和经济现象。
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However, that will answer only the
question of whether Wal-Mart broke the law as currently written. It will not
solve the bigger dilemma: how can justice and capitalism be reconciled? That is
a matter not for judges but for legislators, for it is a matter that affects not
just Wal-Mart the store but Wal-Mart the cultural and economic phenomenon.
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本文得到FT研究员巴弗纳•帕特尔(Bhavna Patel)的帮助。
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FT researcher Bhavna Patel
contributed to this article |
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作者简介：帕提•沃德米尔（Patti
Waldmeir）是««金融时报»»法律和社会问题专栏作家，。尤其关注专门论及聚焦于知识产权、就业法和其他涉及商业及大众关注的法律问题。读者群主要为工商业界人士和一般读者。在移居华盛顿之前，她曾长期在非洲工作。，在1989年至1996年期间，作为驻约翰内斯堡记者站负责人她任«金融时报»驻约翰内斯堡记者站负责人，报道了南非向向民主化转型的过程迈进的过程。
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Patti Waldmeir writes a column about
law and society [for the Financial Times], focusing on intellectual
property,employment law and other legal topics of interest to the business and
general reader. Before moving to Washington D.C., she worked extensively in
Africa, covering the transition to democracy in South Africa as Johannesburg
bureau chief from 1989 to 1996. |
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译者/方志燕 |
