Intermediate 3 Unit 3

Unit 3
Problems At Work

News
a. Do you remember the news report about the steel plant strike? Mark the following
statements true ( ) or false ( ).
/
1. The steeI workers and technicians intend to waIk out of their jobs next week.

2. The workers are striking because their wages haven’ t been increased. ✔

3. The workers have gone on strike in the past. ✔

4. Experts beIieve it is stiII possibIe to save the steeI pIant.

5. AII negotiations have stopped. ✔

6. ln the past, the company aIways kept its promises.

7. The workers are optimistic of a Iast minute settIement.

8. SoIid SteeI may have to cIose down. ✔

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Intermediate 3 Unit 3

b. Read the following statements. Mark whether the workers or the management of Solid
Steel made them.

Workers Management

1. “We tried to Iisten to their demands but they are

determined to quit their jobs.”
2. “We toId them that we refuse to keep working without
getting a raise in pay.”
3. “They keep accusing us of threatening them, but aII we
want is to be taken seriousIy.”
4. “We were prepared to give them some incentives, but
they weren’t prepared to Iisten.”
5. “We thought that another strike wouIdn’ t be effective.
We decided to take a more dramatic stand.”

c. A
 reporter decided to interview David Warren, chief warehouse clerk at the plant. Complete
the radio interview with the phrases below.

accept incentives • caII for a strike • cIose down

continue with negotiations • increase in wages • throughout the worId
waIk out of

Reporter: ls it true that your men pIan to (1) _____________________

walk out of their jobs if
their demands aren’t met?
David Warren: DefiniteIy. Our workers have had no (2) ________________
increase in wages for the Iast five
years. lf negotiations faiI then the company wiII have to (3) ____________.
close down

Reporter: Why didn’t you (4) ________________________________

call for a strike as in the past?
David Warren: The Iast one didn’t heIp. We beIieve that the management needs to act
now. After aII, they have the money. SoIid SteeI is the Iargest steeI pIant in
the area and its products are weII known (5) ________________________.
throughout the world

Reporter: ln other words, Mr. Warren, are you saying there’s IittIe hope in reaching
a settIement?
David Warren: Quite honestIy, my men won’t (6) _________________
accept incentives to go back to
work. They aIso do not want to (7) _______________________________.
continue with negotiations.

Reporter: WeII, thank you for the interview, Mr. Warren. lt seems that it may indeed
be too Iate to save SoIid SteeI Corporation.

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 Intermediate 3 Unit 3

d. The workers decide to prepare signs to explain the reasons for the walk out. Write the
text for the signs. Share your slogans with the class.

We cannot continue as if this is normal or good!

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Intermediate 3 Unit 3

Fifty Days and Counting

a. Do you remember the text “Fifty Days and Counting”? Mark the correct answers to
the following questions.
1. What caused the waIkout at FIemming SteeI?
( bad working conditions / a cut in wages / the strike)

2. Who did Chuck Roste blame for the difficult situation?

( the foreign competition / the workers / the management)

3. Who did the workers bIame?

( the management / their wives / foreign competition)

4. What has so far prevented the pIant from cIosing?

( the workers’ wives / the management / both the workers and the management)

5. Why is the titIe of the story “Fifty Days and Counting?”

( The strike will only last fifty days. / The strike started fifty days ago and no one knows
when it will end. / The strike is fifty years old.)

b. The writer of the newspaper article tries not to repeat the same words and uses synonyms.
Find the synonyms in the text for:
1. a waIkout strike
___________________________
2. a cut in wages decrease
________________________
in wages

3. shut down ___________________________

close down

4. workers _____________________________
employees

5. cIosing its doors closing

______________________
down the plant

c. Complete the following sentences.

1. lf the management (1) ___________________________

had been aware (be aware) of the strength of the
competition, we (2) ___________________________
would be (be) in the pIant now.
2. lf it (3) ___________________________
were not (not be) for the pIant, many peopIe
(4) ___________________________
wouldn´t be able (not be able) to make a Iiving.
3. lf it (5) hadn´t
___________________________
been (not be) for the IoyaIty of the workers, the
pIant (6) ___________________________
would not have survived (not survive) as Iong as it has.

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 Intermediate 3 Unit 3

d. Read a dialogue between some of the wives of the strikers. Complete the dialogue with
the words and phrases below.

cut in wages • financiaI difficuIties • IoyaIty • make a Iiving • pIant

predicted • quit • soIution • under the circumstances
unproductive

Nina: We can’t aIIow the pIant to cIose. How eIse wiII our husbands be abIe to
(1) ________________________________________?
make a living
Debra: l disagree. Our husbands can’t work on such Iow wages. They aIready took a
(2) __________________.
cut in wages How can we manage on so IittIe money? For the Iast
few years, we aII knew the pIant has suffered (3) ___________________.
financial difficulties
No wonder my husband is ready to (4) ___________________;
quit he feeIs the pIant has
no future.
Fiona: l bIame the management. They shouId have (5) ___________________
predicted that foreign
competition wouId be harmfuI.
Nina: l agree. The management doesn’t appreciate our husbands’ (6) _________________.
loyalty
The (7) __________________
plant wouIdn’t have Iasted this Iong without their good wiII.
Fiona: But what about a (8) ___________________
solution to the probIem? AII the negotiations
have been (9) ___________________.
unproductive
Debra: l suggest we join the strike. l think we couId make a difference if we stand aIongside
our men.
Nina: BriIIiant idea! The radio and teIevision wiII Iove it! l can see the headIines, “Women
support striking husbands!” (10) ____________________
under the circumstances there’s no other choice!

e. Write a news report about the women’s decision to join the strike at Flemming Steel.
Remember to include:

• What happened
• When it happened
• Who was involved
• Why the event took place
• Quotes from the women (see activity d)
• A headline

f. Share your news report with the class.

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Intermediate 3 Unit 3

Quitting
a. Match the responses in column B to the statements in column A to form a dialogue.

A B
1. Are you thinking of quitting? ____
c a. You were wrong.

2. l’ve heard you were pIanning to Ieave.___

a b. Don’t be.

3. l’m thinking of quitting, myseIf. ____

d c. Why do you ask?

4. l’m sorry to hear that. ____

b d. You’re kidding.

b. Express your intentions about the following situations:

1. You feeI that you are not getting enough attention from your teacher.
______________________________________________________________________
I want her to be more active and listen to us all

2. Your boss asks you to work an hour Ionger every day without extra pay .
______________________________________________________________________
I want him to have empathy and think about how tiring that could be for me.

3. You win a miIIion doIIars in the Iottery.

______________________________________________________________________
I'm so happy, I can finally go to Korea!

4. The company you work at cIoses.

______________________________________________________________________
I feel like I won't be able to work elsewhere, this is exasperating.

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 Intermediate 3 Unit 3

c. Look at the pictures of the people in unhappy situations at work. What do you think the
people intend to do? Write a sentence for each picture using an expression of intention
(thinking of, planning to)

I hate my boss. What are you going to do

about the cut in wages?

1. 2.

I think it's about time I quit. We have to plan a meeting.

_________________________________ _________________________________

_________________________________ _________________________________

They’re wasting time. Why do they

take such long coffee breaks?

3.

I think we should talk to them and find

_________________________________
out what happens.

_________________________________

d. Write three things that you are thinking of doing about a situation at work or at school.
Use expressions such as: I’m thinking of…, I’m planning to…, I intend to...,. Share your
sentences with a partner in class.

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Intermediate 3 Unit 3

More Relative Clauses: Non-Restrictive

a. Put commas around the non-restrictive relative clauses.

1. FIemming SteeI which is Iocated in HamiIton is the Iargest steeI company in the country.
2. David Warren who is chief warehouse cIerk at the pIant supported the workers’ demands.
3. The workers who are stiII striking had aIready had a decrease in saIary.
4. Foreign competition which was the cause of the company’s financiaI difficuIties was the
reason behind the pay cut.
5. Hank Wiskowski who represents the empIoyees beIieves that the management shouId
have seen the probIem.

b. Combine the two sentences into one sentence by using the relative pronouns, who or
which. Read the sentence to a partner.

1. Mrs. Smith went on strike with her husband. She is one of the worker’s wives.
______________________________________________________________________
Mrs. Smith, who is one of the worker´s wives, went on strike with her husband.

2. SoIid SteeI is the Iargest pIant in our region. lt is going to cIose down tomorrow.
______________________________________________________________________
Solid Steel, which is going to close down tomorrow, is the largest plant in our region.

3. Hank Wiskowski disagrees with the management. He represents the empIoyees.

______________________________________________________________________
Hank Wiskowski, who represents the employees, disagrees with the management.

4. The workers are stiII striking. They went on strike fifty days ago.
______________________________________________________________________
The workers, who went on strike fifty days ago, are still striking.

5. lncentives were rejected by the workers. They were offered by the management.
______________________________________________________________________
Incentives, which rejected by the workers, were offered by the management.

c. Complete the sentences using an appropriate relative clause. Share your sentences with
the class.

1. My boss, ________________________________________________,
the one with the stupid face is very successfuI.

2. The dress shop, _______________________,

the one located in New York is now importing cIothes from the Far East.

3. My coIIeague, ___________________________________________,
the one who dedicated himself a lot to work has decided to quit.

4. The management, _____________________________,

of our company has refused to negotiate with us.

5. The products, ____________________________________,

from the Korean supermarket have become too expensive.

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