◎魏國金
For more than 40 years they’ve toiled away, meticulously scrubbing and cleaning toilets in southern India. However, astonishingly, two dedicated cleaners have only £64 EACH to show for their four decades of working their fingers to the bone.
逾40年來，她們在南印度賣力工作，細心不苟地擦洗廁所。然而，令人驚訝的是，這2名工作專一的清潔工，40年來拚命幹活，僅各掙得64英鎊。
Akku and Leela Sherigar have earned an average of 180 rupees - or £2 - a year. And for the last 11 years they have worked for free following a dispute with their employer.
阿庫與莉拉．謝里加1年平均賺得180盧比，或2英鎊。而且，過去11年來，在與雇主發生一場糾紛後，她們無酬工作。
The two women, both aged 59, started working as toilet cleaners for the Government’s Women Teacher’s Training Institute, in South India, in 1971, for 15 Rupees a month as fresh-faced 18-year-olds.
這兩名同為59歲的婦女，1971年還是青春洋溢的18歲時，以每月15盧比的薪資，開始在政府的女教師訓練所擔任廁所清潔工。
But they’ve not had a pay rise ever since, even though they have never missed a day’s work. They’ve now applied to the Guinness Book of World Records for the title of the lowest salary in the world.
然而自此她們未曾加薪，即使她們沒有一天不工作。現在她們申請金氏世界紀錄的全球最低薪資頭銜。
In 2001, they finally had enough and complained to the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, in Udupi, in southwest India. Then, their wages stopped altogether with no mention of any reimbursement.
2001年，她們最後忍無可忍，向印度西南部烏杜皮的卡納塔克邦行政法庭提出告訴。接著，她們的薪資在沒有任何補償下全部停發。
But they still went into work cleaning 21 toilets, three times a day, seven days a week. And for the last 11 years, they have worked for free.
然而，她們還是去上班，1週7天、1天3次打掃21間廁所。過去11年來，她們沒有領到任何酬勞。
新聞辭典
toil away︰動詞片語，長期勞累。例句︰He has toiled away at the guitar for years.（他苦練吉他多年。）
work one’s fingers to the bone︰動詞片語，不停工作、拚命幹活。例句︰She has been working her fingers to the bone to raise her children.（為了養育孩子，她拚命工作。）
fresh-faced︰形容詞，氣色好的、顯得年輕健康的。例句︰There are some photographs of me when I was a fresh-faced youth.（這裡有一些我花漾青春時的照片。）
文章出處：自由時報電子報中英對照新聞
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