I don’t think I have ever written before about a British strike directly related to the climate emergency. But that’s exactly what began late last week in north London, with a zeitgeisty(具有时代精神的，反映时代潮流的) connection to Andy Burnham’s fixation(痴迷，固着) on buses: picket lines(纠察线) outside depots and massed(大规模的，聚集的) walkouts, while the temperatures in the relevant parts of the capital and its suburbs hovered(徘徊，盘旋) at about 34C (93F).
我想我以前从未写过与气候紧急状况直接相关的英国罢工。但上周晚些时候，伦敦北部恰恰爆发了这样的罢工，这与安迪·伯纳姆对公交车的执念形成了一种时代性的关联：停车场外纠察线林立，大规模罢工行动不断，而首都及其郊区的相关区域气温徘徊在34摄氏度（华氏93度）左右。
Last Friday, more than 1,500 drivers employed by the transport giant Arriva began a planned run of 26 stoppages(停工，罢工) through to October, affecting bus routes spread between London and Essex. Everything is being led by the union Unite, whose recent grievances(不满，委屈) include alleged company union-busting(破坏工会的行为) and assaults(袭击，攻击) by the public on staff. But the fundamental basis of the dispute is at the heart of(在……的核心) the national condition: the near-impossibility for millions of people of working through another insanely(疯狂地，极其) hot summer.
上周五，运输巨头Arriva雇用的1500多名司机开始了计划中的26次停工，一直持续到10月，影响了伦敦与埃塞克斯之间的公交线路。这一切由工会Unite领导，该工会近期的不满包括公司涉嫌破坏工会以及公众对员工的袭击。但这场纠纷的根本基础正是国家状况的核心：对数百万民众而言，在又一个酷热难耐的夏天坚持工作几乎是不可能的。
Most of Arriva North London’s buses, says Unite, have old-fashioned(老式的，过时的) air cooling systems rather than(而不是) air conditioning, which means that onboard temperatures have come down by only two or three degrees during this year’s five heatwaves(热浪). On other such vehicles, it insists, the air-con is broken. The cabs where drivers sit are essentially compact greenhouses, and can easily reach 40C or higher. And there is another grim(严峻的，令人沮丧的) twist: union members complain of a shortage of toilets on too many routes, meaning they refrain from(克制，避免) drinking water. Unite has been warning about all this since the phases of intense heat that began back in May; its members, the union says, have experienced “heat exhaustion, heatstroke and dehydration(脱水)”.
Unite表示，Arriva北伦敦分公司的大多数公交车配备的是老式空气冷却系统而非空调，这意味着在今年五次热浪期间，车内温度仅下降了两三度。该工会坚称，其他此类车辆的空调已经损坏。司机所在的驾驶室基本上是紧凑型温室，温度很容易达到40摄氏度或更高。还有一个令人沮丧的转折：工会成员抱怨，太多线路上厕所短缺，这意味着他们不敢喝水。Unite自5月开始的高温阶段以来一直在警告这一切；工会称，其成员经历了“热衰竭、中暑和脱水”。