[General] explanation of an ambiguous sentence

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vil

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Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me the proper interpretation of the pay-offs in the following sentence that is a little ambiguous for my me especially due to usage of the preventing first?

If the boss is not successful in preventing pay-offs they will commence a stay-in strike the following day.

payoff = the final payment of a debt; the payment of money to settle a debt completely

payoff - payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment; a bribe

payoff = a redundancy payment or golden handshake

payoffs compared with the costs

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.
 

emsr2d2

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Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me the proper interpretation of the pay-offs in the following sentence that is a little ambiguous for my me especially due to usage of the preventing first?

If the boss is not successful in preventing pay-offs they will commence a stay-in strike the following day.

payoff = the final payment of a debt; the payment of money to settle a debt completely

payoff - payment made to a person in a position of trust to corrupt his judgment; a bribe

payoff = a redundancy payment or golden handshake - This would be the correct usage of payoff in your sentence. It appears that the staff are being threatened with redundancy (payoffs) and if the boss doesn't stop this, they will strike.

payoffs compared with the costs

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

Comments above. Note: I have never heard of a "stay-in" strike. I know of 2 similar phrases which may be better:

Sit-down strike - in this strike the workers who are on strike sit at their designated workstations and refuse to move. This stops the bosses replacing them with strikebreakers or casual workers.

Sit-in (strike) - a group of workers simply occupy an area and refuse to leave until their demands are met. It's usually just referred to as "staging a sit-in".

Also note that redundancies are also known as "layoffs".
 
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vil

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Hi emsr2d2,

Thank you for your comprehensive explanation as well as for your recommendation.

I can at least try to make clear my position concerning the term “stay-in strike”.

stay-in strike = a job action that consists of a slowdown or work stoppage by employees who remain at their workplace.

stay-in strike: Definition from Answers.com

There are also another variety of the term in question and namely “Italian strike” or “work –to rule” or “white strike”.

Thank you again for your kindness.

Regards,

V.
 

emsr2d2

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Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
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British English
Home Country
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UK
Hi emsr2d2,

Thank you for your comprehensive explanation as well as for your recommendation.

I can at least try to make clear my position concerning the term “stay-in strike”.

stay-in strike = a job action that consists of a slowdown or work stoppage by employees who remain at their workplace.

stay-in strike: Definition from Answers.com

There are also another variety of the term in question and namely “Italian strike” or “work –to rule” or “white strike”.

Thank you again for your kindness.

Regards,

V.

A "slowdown" in the UK would be known as a "go slow".

I've never heard of an Italian strike or a white strike, but we have "work to rule" in the UK. In my old job, this meant doing the absolute basics of your job description, very thoroughly, nothing more, nothing less. You would refuse to do anything that wasn't specifically mentioned in your job description, refuse to work any overtime or do anything simply by goodwill - no favours, no extra tasks etc etc.
 
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