都柏林，10月12日——由于工会拒绝了政府为避免罢工而提出的最后提议，爱尔兰大部分公共部门员工将首次举行罢工。
DUBLIN, Oct 12 - Much of Ireland's public sector is set to go on strike for the first time since the height of the country's financial crisis in 2009, after trade unions rejected a late bid by the government to avert the stoppage.
约30万名教师、医护人员、公务员和其他公共部门工作人员计划举行为期一天的罢工，原因是工会与政府在公共部门加薪问题上陷入僵局。
Some 300,000 teachers, health workers, civil servants and other public workers plan to hold the one-day strike over a deadlock between unions and the government on the basis for entering talks on public sector pay rises.
工会数月来一直主张必须先就薪资条款达成一致，才能讨论生产力等其他问题，理由是生活成本压力。部长们拒绝了这一条件，并表示这违背了之前的协议。
Unions have for months argued that pay terms must be agreed before other issues, such as productivity, were discussed due to cost-of-living pressures. Ministers have rejected this condition and say it represents a break from previous deals.
公共支出部长杰克·钱伯斯在周一致工会领导人的信中敦促他们推迟罢工行动，称‘薪资问题可以也应该与其他事项一起优先讨论’。
In a letter to union leaders on Monday urging them to postpone the strike action, Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said "pay issues can and should be discussed as a priority alongside other matters".
爱尔兰工会大会公共服务委员会主席表示，工会领导人看不出这如何改变钱伯斯的立场，也无法成为推迟罢工的理由。
The chair of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions public services committee said union leaders could not see how this represented any change in Chambers' position or provided a basis for postponement.
自2009年因大幅减薪引发罢工以来，一系列加薪措施维持了工业领域的稳定。
A series of pay increases have kept industrial peace since the harsh pay cuts that spurred the 2009 walkout, and while Ireland's economy and public finances are among the healthiest in Europe, high prices have frustrated many workers.
尽管爱尔兰的经济和公共财政状况在欧洲处于较好水平，但高物价仍让许多工人感到不满。
Trade unions want any new deal to cover the gap between pay and inflation over previous years and ensure that wages will not fall behind living standards over the duration of any new deal. The last pay deal expired at the end of June.
工会希望新的协议能够弥补过去几年薪资与通货膨胀之间的差距，并确保在新协议有效期内工资不会落后于生活水平。最后一次薪资协议已于6月底到期。
Essential services such as emergency hospital departments will be maintained on Wednesday and public transport will also be unaffected. However fire and ambulance services will run a reduced service and hospitals have warned of "significant and widespread" disruption with routine procedures cancelled.
周三，紧急医院部门等基本服务将正常运行，公共交通也不会受到影响，但消防和救护服务将减少服务，医院也警告称常规程序将受到‘严重且广泛’的干扰。第二次罢工定于10月21日举行。
A second strike day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21.