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United States
美國版塊
Dust-up with doormen
和門衛吵架
The white gloves stay on
一直戴著白手套
New York’s well-to-do almost had to take out their own rubbish
紐約的富人幾乎不得不自己倒垃圾
Few things are as quintessentially New York as its doormen.
很少有東西能像門衛那樣，成為紐約的典型代表。
Yes, other places have concierges.
是的，其他地方也有門衛。
But that is like saying you can get a bagel anywhere.
但就像你在任何地方都能買到百吉餅。
New York doormen are special.
而紐約的門衛很特別。
Residents often say their doormen are like family.
居民們經常說，他們的門衛就像家人一樣。
They’re trusted, discreet and act as gatekeepers.
他們是值得信任，行事謹慎的門衛。
They watch out for the kids and the safety of residents.
他們密切注意孩子和住戶的安全。
“We’re all part of the same team,” says one doorman.
“我們都是一個團隊的一員，”一名門衛說。
That team was divided during recent contract negotiations.
在最近的合同談判中，該團隊出現了分歧。
The doormen’s union, Service Employees International’s Local 32bj, which represents some 30,000 doormen and other building staff, voted on April 13th to strike.
4月13日，代表了大約3萬名門衛和樓里的其他工作人員的門衛聯盟--32BJ-SEIU工會投票決定罷工。
But on April 19th, a day before the contract expired, the two sides--the union and about 3,000 residential-building owners represented by the Realty Advisory Board on Labour Relations--reached an agreement.
但在4月19日，也就是合同到期的前一天，雙方--32BJ-SEIU工會和房地產勞資關系咨詢委員會為代表的約3000名業主--達成了一項協議。
The union got the pay increase it wanted, and it keeps fully employer-paid health care.
工會得到了它想要的加薪，并保留了雇主全額支付醫療的權益。
Kyle Bragg, head of the union, says his members have had a tough two years.
工會主席凱爾·布拉格表示，他的成員們度過了艱難的兩年。
Doormen (and women) went to work when residents stayed at home or fled the city.
當居民呆在家里或逃離城市時，門衛（包括女性門衛）就會去工作。
About 40 New York doormen died from covid-19.
大約40名紐約門衛死于新冠肺炎。
Covid protocols meant even more cleaning.
新冠協議意味著更多的清潔工作。
When residents fell ill doormen were sometimes the only people making sure they got fed.
當居民生病時，門衛有時是唯一確保他們有飯吃的人。
Deliveries increased as more people relied on online shopping and food delivery.
隨著越來越多的人依賴網購和外賣，送貨量增加了。
“We make sure everything that they need is available for them,” says Crystalann Johnson, who works in a 60-storey building in midtown.
在市中心一棟60層的大樓里工作的克里斯特蘭·約翰遜說：“我們要確保他們所需要的一切都得到滿足。”
The pandemic affected management, too.
疫情也影響了管理。
Many ground-floor tenants, such as retailers and restaurants, closed and did not reopen, meaning loss of revenue.
許多底商，如零售商和餐館，都關閉了，沒有重新開業，這意味著收入損失。
The union was sceptical: Manhattan rent is at a record high, and residential-property sales had their strongest-ever first quarter, with purchases of $7.3bn.
工會對此表示懷疑：曼哈頓的租金創歷史新高，第一季度住宅物業銷售也達到了有史以來最強勁的水平，成交額達73億美元。
A doorman adds 10-15% to an apartment’s value, says Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, an appraisal firm.
一家名為Miller Samuel的評估公司的喬納森·米勒說，門衛會使一套公寓的價值增加10-15%。
In a way, doormen always had the support of management--in the form of the residents.
在某種程度上，門衛總是得到管理部門的支持--以居民的形式。
Some doormen even helped them prepare for a possible walkout, showing them where rubbish gets recycled and how to work the lifts.
一些門衛甚至幫助他們為可能的罷工做準備，向居民展示垃圾在哪里回收以及如何使用電梯。
It is unusual, says Peter Bearman of Columbia University, author of “Doormen”, which examines that curious relationship.
《尋找門衛 ：一個隱蔽的社交世界》一書的作者、哥倫比亞大學的彼得·比爾曼說，這很不尋常，該書探討了這種奇怪的關系。
“There is no other situation in which you will see that kind of dynamics.
“在其他情況下，你不會看到這種動態。
The tenants become the scabs, essentially, replacing the labour of the doorman.
從本質上講，房客成了“工賊”，取代了門衛的勞動。
But it’s done with such grace and mutual support.”
但它是在非常優雅和相互支持的情況下完成的。
Happily for the scabs and the doormen, the strike was averted.
令房客和門衛慶幸的是，罷工得以避免。
The last one was in 1991 and lasted for 12 days.
上一次罷工是在1991年，持續了12天。
A strike in 2022 would have had a bigger impact because deliveries have changed from a luxury to a necessity for many households: food-delivery workers and couriers might not have wanted to cross picket lines.
2022年的罷工會產生更大的影響，因為對許多家庭來說，外賣已經從奢侈品變成了必需品：送餐員和快遞員可能不想越過罷工糾察線。
And perish the thought that residents would have to open their own doors and hail their own cabs.
居民們不得不自己開門、自己叫出租車的情況也就避免了。
