Riders forced out in Chongqing cab strike

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-11-4  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

TRAVELERS missed flights, and buses were packed yesterday in Chongqing Municipality as taxi drivers launched a strike that at times turned violent.

The drivers°?, some of whom pulled passengers from cabs that failed to heed the strike call, were protesting insufficient supplies of the natural gas that fuels most of the city's taxis, competition from unlicensed cabs and hefty fines for traffic violations, according to an official at the municipal transport administration.

That agency held meetings after the strike broke out yesterday morning and tried to persuade the drivers to resume work. Police patrol cars were out in force on the roads.

About 8 percent of the 9,000 urban cabbies in China's fourth-largest city defied the strike and returned to work by 2pm, some with transport officials in their passenger seats.

Drivers had pleaded with transport staff to accompany them to guarantee their safety after about 20 vehicles, including three police cars, were smashed up earlier in the day, Xinhua news agency reported.

The city government and the Communist Party of China Chongqing Municipal Committee held several meetings to address the situation and issued a series of measures aimed at restoring cab services, Xinhua said.

In response to the cabbies' complaints, city government said it has begun seeking opinions on raising fares, increasing natural gas supplies and cracking down on unlicensed cabs.

The city's cab association has proposed a plan to adjust the split of fares between drivers and companies.

Earlier in the day, tensions escalated as more than 100 people gathered on a business street at around 11:30am in Jiangbei District, stopped cabs and pulled out the drivers.

"All cab drivers agreed to stop work, and we damaged the cabs of those who didn't keep their word," one of the crowd, who refused to give his name, told Xinhua.