Cabbies resume work in south China after party chief promises actions

Written by Meenaa on Saturday, November 15th, 2008

SANYA, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) — All taxi drivers in this tourist city of Hainan Province returned to work on Friday, ending a five-day strike after getting solemn promises from the government.

Jiang Zelin, secretary of the Sanya Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), met nearly 2,000 taxi drivers in a library building at about 3 p.m., vowing to take concrete measures to protect licensed drivers’ interests.

Average taxi rental fees must not be higher than 5,300 yuan (777 U.S. dollars) a month and companies should not shorten the contracted rental period unilaterally, Jiang reiterated the terms of a taxi management policy that should have taken effect on Jan. 1.

However, some taxi companies continued to charge drivers more than 7,000 yuan a month during the past 11 months.

Companies must return overcharged fees to drivers in two days, Jiang ordered.

He sincerely apologized on behalf of the local authority for not being able to enforce the measures.

If companies continue to neglect the orders, their taxi operating rights would be annulled and drivers could continue work in other state-owned public transport enterprises, he said.

Related authorities would launch a crackdown on unlicensed cabs and eradicate all forms of illegal taxi services across the city, Jiang pledged.

Drivers at the scene strongly applauded the remarks and soon resumed services.

Cabbies had been on strike since Monday, demanding relief from high rental fees and competition from unlicensed cabs. Many remained rallying in front of the municipal government building, pressing the authority to give a clear timetable.