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Obama’s Weekly Address WEEKLY ADDRESS: This Labor Day, Let’s Talk About the Minimum Wage

奥巴马每周电视讲话:总统祝福大家劳动节快乐

Hi, everybody.

大家好。

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.

无论你是准备点燃烧烤炉，还是要去大学橄榄球赛场加油助威，还是要为爱车加满油准备今夏最后一次远足，我要祝大家劳动节快乐！

We set aside Labor Day to honor the working men and women of America.

我们设立劳动节就是要向全美所有辛勤工作的人们致敬。

And this Labor Day, we’ve got more to celebrate.

今年的劳动节，我们可庆祝的主题更多。

Over the past 53 months, our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs.

过去53个月里，企业总共创造了将近1000万个就业岗位。

Last month, for the first time since 1997, we created more than 200,000 jobs for six straight months.

上个月，也是我们自1997年以来第一次连续6个月创造出20多万个就业岗位。

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.

十多年来，第一次有全球的商界领袖宣称，美国连续两年超越中国成为全球最具投资价值的国家。

So there are reasons to be optimistic about where we’re headed.

我们有理由对我们前进的方向充满信心。

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.

我们现在所做出的决策将决定我们能否为这一进展提供动力：要么使经济发展成果流向社会顶层的少数人，要么使经济发展为提高社会工资待遇和建设欣欣向荣的中产阶级提供动力。

Think about it this Labor Day.

劳动节我们要思考这个问题。

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.

我们经常认为是理所当然的事情：包括社保和医保，安全生产法，组织起来争取更好的工资待遇的权利，周末休假的权利等等，这些都并不都是我们所能享有的。

Workers and the unions who get their back had to fight for them.

工人和得到大家支持的工会需要为此而斗争。

And those fights built a stronger middle class.

通过这样的斗争我们打造出更强的中产阶级。

To build a stronger middle class in today’s changing economy, we’ve got to keep fighting.

为了在当今变革的经济形势中打造更强大的中产阶级，我们需要不断的斗争。

We’ve got to fight for the right to affordable health insurance for everybody.

我们要为每个人争取获得平价医疗保险的权利，

The right to fair pay, family leave, and workplace flexibility. The right to a fair living wage.

同工同酬的权利，休探亲假的权利以及自由选择工作地点的权利，获得一般生活水平的工资的权利。

Let me focus on that last one for a minute.

我要重点说说最后一项。

In America, no one who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty.

在美国，任何全职工作的人都不应该让他的家庭生活在贫困之中。

A hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

辛勤付出的一天理应得到公平的工资。

And raising the minimum wage would be one of the best ways to give a boost to working families.

提高最低工资标准则是为工薪家庭带来收入提升的最好途径。

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.

这将帮助全美2800万人民有能力支付日常支出，抚养孩子并在当地消费。

And that grows the economy for everyone.

而这也将促进经济增长惠及所有人。

The bottom line is, America deserves a raise.

我们的底线就是，美国应该提高工资标准。

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.

但在国会真正关注提高工人最低工资标准这一问题之前，我们需要做出努力，促使国会关注这一问题。

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.

在我首次向国会提出提高最低工资标准之后的一年半时间里，美国社会各界都积极做出努力。

Thirteen states and D.C. have done their part by raising their minimum wages.

全美有13个州和华盛顿特区都提高了最低工资标准。

Four more states have minimum wage initiatives on the ballot this November.

还有4个州也将在11月对提高最低工资标准方案进行投票。

And the states where the minimum wage has gone up this year have experienced higher job growth than the states that haven’t.

这些提高了最低工资标准的各州今年的就业增长更快。

Business leaders at companies like The Gap are doing their part.

像Gap这样的企业也做出了自身的努力。

They’re raising base wages for tens of thousands of workers because they know it’s good for business.

这家公司为数万工人提高基本工资水平，因为他们知道这对企业有利。

Mayors across the country are doing their part.

全国各地的市长们也在尽自己的力量。

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.

芝加哥的伊曼纽尔市长和洛杉矶的贾西狄市长都在努力提高工资标准，他们将加班工资提高到了最少13美元每小时。

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.

我也在尽我自己的力量要求联邦政府合同承包商为其员工提供10.10美元每小时的工资。

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.

本月初，肯塔基州立大学的校长为大家树立了榜样，他自己减薪9万美元，用这些钱为低收入员工提高工资。

His sacrifice will give more of his workers and their families a little extra money to help make ends meet.

他的这种舍己为人的举动将给他的员工和其家庭更多收入，帮助他们实现收支平衡。

That’s how America built the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

正是这些东西让我们打造出全球最强大的中产阶级。

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.

不是让社会财富仅仅流向社会顶层的少数人，而是保证每个辛勤工作遵纪守法的人都能取得成功。

That’s the bedrock this country is built on.

这是我们国家发展的基石所在。

Hard work.Responsibility.Sacrifice.

辛勤付出、敢于担当、舍己为人。

And looking out for one another as one united American family.

相互关爱、荣辱与共。

Let’s keep that in mind this Labor Day, and every day.

值此劳动节之际，让我们永远铭记这些精神，并在每一天身体力行。

Have a great weekend, everybody.

各位，祝你们周末愉快。