Thursday • December 6, 2007
BEIJING — A rare strike by taxi drivers demanding relief from management fees and high fuel prices disrupted transport yesterday in the north-eastern Chinese city of Harbin.
The strike mimics similar work stoppages by drivers in other Chinese cities — all of them unsanctioned and unreported in the entirely state-controlled media.
Drivers have been squeezed by high monthly management fees and a nearly 10-per-cent hike in gasoline prices not met with an accompanying rise in fares.
"Some drivers are barely making 1,000 yuan ($195.50 ) per month," said Mr Chen Weiguang, a driver in Harbin who said he had been ordered by his bosses to ignore the strike. "Life is very tough," he added.
Taxi driver Wang Yuewu said his company had forced some drivers to work but most were parking their taxis and refusing to take passengers.
Mr Chen estimated less than half of the taxis in the city of 3.8 million were carrying passengers. Staff at Harbin hotels said barely any cabs were available, while one driver said taxis that were plying had been attacked, apparently by drivers seeking to enforce the shutdown.
Both Mr Chen and Mr Wang said taxi company managers had been assigned to stake out intersections and hotels to make sure cabs were still working.
It wasn't clear who had organised the strike or how long it would last. China permits only one official Communist Party-controlled trade union organisation, and independent labour organisers can be harassed and arrested under vague and generously applied national security laws.
While usually brief, such strikes have the potential to cause major disruptions because cities such as the regional tourism and industrial centre of Harbin rarely have efficient public transportation systems such as subways to fall back on. The strike also points to economic turbulence wrought by rising global oil prices. — AP
Copyright MediaCorp Press Ltd. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment