美国总统奥巴马每周电台演讲2014.09.01

Hi, everybody.  Whether you’re firing up the grill, fired up for some college football, or filling up the car for one last summer road-trip – Happy Labor Day weekend.
We set aside Labor Day to honor the working men and women of America.  And this Labor Day, we’ve got more to celebrate.  Over the past 53 months, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs.  Last month, for the first time since 1997, we created more than 200,000 jobs for six straight months.  And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders worldwide have declared, two years running, that the number one place to invest isn’t China – it’s America.

大家好。无论你在生火烤肉，为一些高校橄榄球赛助威，还是装满你的汽车开始最后一个夏日旅行--我都祝你们劳工节快乐。

我们设立了劳工节是为了向美国的劳动男女表示敬意。这个劳工节，我们有更多可庆祝的。在过去的53个月里，我们的企业增加了近1千万个新就业岗位。上个月，我们连续6个月创造了20万个就业各位，这是自1997年以来的首次。全世界的企业领导人都惊呼两年飞度，投资的首选已经不是中国，而是美国了，这是十年来的首次。

So there are reasons to be optimistic about where we’re headed.  And the decisions we make now will determine whether or not we accelerate this progress – whether economic gains flow to a few at the top, or whether a growing economy fuels rising incomes and a thriving middle class.
Think about it this Labor Day.  The things we often take for granted – Social Security and Medicare, workplace safety laws and the right to organize for better pay and benefits, even weekends – we didn’t always have these things.  Workers and the unions who get their back had to fight for them.  And those fights built a stronger middle class.

所以我们有理由对我们的前景乐观。我们现在做出的决策将决定我们能否庆祝这个进步--我们的经济收益能否成为少数领先者或者发展的经济能否助力收入增长和繁荣中产阶级。

在这个劳工节考虑一下这些吧。我们常常认为理所当然的--社保和医保，职业安全法律和组成团队争取更多收入和福利，甚至周末休息权利--我们不是天然地拥有这些的。工人们和工会过去不得不为这些奋斗。这些奋斗打造了一个强大的中产阶级。

To build a stronger middle class in today’s changing economy, we’ve got to keep fighting.  We’ve got to fight for the right to affordable health insurance for everybody.  The right to fair pay, family leave, and workplace flexibility.  The right to a fair living wage.
Let me focus on that last one for a minute.  In America, no one who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.  A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.  And raising the minimum wage would be one of the best ways to give a boost to working families.  It would help around 28 million Americans from all walks of life pay the bills, provide for their kids, and spend that money at local businesses.  And that grows the economy for everyone.

要在今天变幻莫测的经济形势下打造一个强大的中产阶级，我们必须继续奋斗。我们必须为惠及每个人的可承受的医保奋斗。为公平薪酬、病事假和弹性工作而奋斗。为公平的生活费而奋斗。

让我着重谈谈最后一点。在美国，我们不允许全职工作的人们养家糊口都困难。一天艰辛的工作理当获得一天公平的收入。提高最低工资是支持工薪家庭的最好方法之一。它将帮助2千8百万各行各业的人们的生活开销、抚养孩子和在当地消费。这将发展经济惠及每个人。

The bottom line is, America deserves a raise.  But until we’ve got a Congress that cares about raising working folks’ wages, it’s up to the rest of us to make it happen.  And in the year and a half since I first asked Congress to raise the minimum wage, Americans of all walks of life are doing just that.
Thirteen states and D.C. have done their part by raising their minimum wages.  Four more states have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot this November.  And the states where the minimum wage has gone up this year have experienced higher job growth than the states that haven’t. 

我们的底线是，美国理应发展。但是我们还没有促成国会关心提高工薪人们的工资，所以它取决于我们其他人促成此事。自我就任一年半时我首次提请国会提高最低工资以来，各行各业的美国人都在做此事。

13个州和特区都尽了他们的职责提高了最低工资。还有4个州要在11月份投票表决最低工资事宜。最低工资提高的州今年就业率比没有提高最低工资的州要高。

Business leaders at companies like The Gap are doing their part.  They’re raising base wages for tens of thousands of workers because they know it’s good for business.
Mayors across the country are doing their part.  Mayor Emanuel in Chicago and Mayor Garcetti in L.A. are working to lift their cities’ wages over time to at least thirteen dollars an hour.
I’ve tried to do my part by requiring companies that get contracts with the federal government to pay their workers a fair wage of ten dollars and ten cents an hour.
And earlier this month, the president of Kentucky State University set a great example by giving himself a $90,000 pay cut, so that he could give raises to his lowest-paid employees.  His sacrifice will give more of his workers and their families a little extra money to help make ends meet. 

Gap 这样的大公司领导人在尽他们的职责。他们在为成千上万的工人提高基础工资，因为他们知道这有利于公司。全国很多市长也尽了他们的职责。芝加哥的Emanuel市长和洛杉矶的Garcetti市长正在努力在将来提高他们的城市的最低小时工资到13美元。

我一直在努力尽我的职责要求承包联邦政府项目的公司给他们的工人公平的工资--每小时十美元十美分。

本月早些时候，肯塔基州立大学的校长以身作则，自减工资90,000美元，以给他的低收入雇员提高工作。 他的牺牲将他的更多员工及其家庭一点余钱度日。

That’s how America built the greatest middle class the world has ever known.  Not by making sure a fortunate few at the top are doing well, but by making sure that everyone who’s willing to work hard and play by the rules can get ahead.  That’s the bedrock this country is built on.  Hard work.  Responsibility.  Sacrifice.  And looking out for one another as one united American family.
Let’s keep that in mind this Labor Day, and every day.  Have a great weekend, everybody.
这就是美国如何打造了世界上迄今最伟大的中产阶级。不是通过确保最富裕的少数人花天酒地，而是通过确保每个愿意努力工作和遵守规则的人们过得好。这是我国的立国基石。努力工作。承担责任。自我牺牲。关爱美国大家庭的每一个成员。

在这个劳工节，让我们牢记这些，每时每刻都牢记这些。各位，周末快乐。