industrial action, social contract, de minimis /de minimus

Europe's Banker Talks Tough

Fallen Official Is Defiant as Trial Begins in China

“The thing that always leaves me incredulous about Chinese corruption trials is the de minimus amounts of money involved,” writes Randy.

ECB chief Draghi warned European countries that there is no escape from tough austerity measures and that the Continent's traditional social contract is obsolete.

social contract 各種福利措施等

The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept corresponding duties to protect themselves and one another from violence and other kinds of harm.^{[citation needed]}

社會契約〈Social Contract〉是一種概念，用作解釋個人和政府之間的適當關係。社會契約主張個人融入政治社會是通過一個相互同意的過程，當中，個人同意遵守共同的規則，並接受相應的義務，以保護自己和其他人不受暴力和其他種類的傷害。社會契約理論對催生主權在民這一政治理念發揮了重要的歷史作用。大多數社會契約理論的出發點是對不存在任何政治秩序的人類生存條件作啟發式的審視，通常稱為「自然狀態」。在這種情況下，個人的行動只受他們個人的權力和良心所約束。從這個共同的起點，社會契約論者各以不同的方式證明，為什麼一個理性的個人自願放棄他或她自然的自由，獲得政治秩序的好處。

What we will do to maintain and recover service

If the industrial action goes ahead, Royal Mail has strong contingency plans to do all we can to keep mail moving and minimise disruption for our customers:

• Keep mail moving – over 900 managerial and contract drivers will move mail around the country on strike days.

Royal Mail Strikes

Industrial action (UK, Ireland and Australia) or job action (US) refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted, mistakenly, as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider. Industrial action may take place in the context of a labour dispute or may be meant to effect political or social change. Specifically industrial action may include one or more of the following:

de minimis

Syllabification: (de min·i·mis)

Pronunciation: /dā ˈminiˌmēs/

Entry from US Dictionary

adjective

• too trivial or minor to merit consideration, especially in law:de minimis fringe benefit rules

Origin:

from Latin de minimis non curat lex 'the law is not concerned with trivial matters'