中國出租車司機罷工此起彼伏

BEIJING — TaXi drivers in a half-dozen cities across China have gone on strike in recent days to protest what they say are soaring expenses, shrinking incomes and the competition presented by a spate of new ride-hailing apps.

北京——近日，中國四五座城市的出租車司機舉行罷運，抗議他們眼中的問題——費用高漲、收入減少，以及層出不窮的新打車軟件引發的競爭。

Early in the week, hundreds of drivers in the northeastern rust-belt city of Changchun blocked roads, prompting the intervention of police officers who arrested scores of drivers, according to social media postings that were later deleted by censors.

社交媒體上有帖子稱，本週早些時候，東北老工業城市長春的數百名出租車司機封鎖了道路，導致警方出手干預，抓走了數十名司機。這些帖子後來被審查部門刪除。

Cabbies in other cities, including Chengdu, in Sichuan Province, and Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province, also took part in organized work stoppages.

四川成都、江西省會南昌等城市的出租車司機也參與了有組織的停運活動。

Last week, a two-day strike in Nanjing, a prosperous city in the Yangtze River delta, left thousands of people scrambling to find alternate transportation at the city’s airport, train stations and bus terminals.

上週，位於長江三角洲地區的繁華都市南京的出租車司機停工兩天，導致機場、火車站及公交站的成千上萬名乘客爭相尋找替代的交通工具。

In an article published by China Daily, one driver complained that he had to hand over more than half of his fare receipts to the fleet company from which he rented his vehicle. “I get up before 6 a.m. every morning and sit for about 14 hours a day, only to get 2,000 yuan a month,” or about $325, said the man, Liu Xingyou. “That’s unbearable.”

《中國日報》的一篇報道稱，一名司機抱怨他需要將超過一半的收入上交給出租車公司。“我每天早上不到6點起牀，然後一天開大約14個小時的車，每個月只能掙2000塊，”司機劉興友（音）說。“實在熬不下去了。”

His income is $70 less than the national average.

他的月收入比全國平均水平低大約430元人民幣。

Although taxi strikes in China are not new, the cascade of copycat protests around the country highlights the organizational power of social media, presenting a challenge to a government that has little tolerance for labor unrest.

雖然出租車罷運在中國並不是什麼新鮮事，但全國各地紛紛效仿的現象突顯了社交媒體的組織能力，給基本不能容忍勞工騷動的政府帶來了挑戰。

According to China Labor Bulletin, a watchdog group based in Hong Kong, worker activism has surged over the past year, with 569 incidents counted in the final quarter of last year, or three times the number in the same period in 2013.

總部位於香港的監督組織“中國勞工通訊”(China Labor Bulletin)透露，中國大陸的勞工運動在過去一年中激增，去年第四季度共出現569起此類事件，同比增加了兩倍。

The group said the increase in protests and strikes by truck drivers, construction workers and miners was probably due to a slowing economy, but also to the spread of inexpensive smartphones that have allowed organizers to spread the word about unpaid wages, broken contracts and other labor complaints.

該組織表示，卡車司機、建築工人及礦工的抗議和罷工活動不斷增加，其原因很可能是經濟放緩，不過廉價智能手機的流行也不容忽視。組織者可以通過手機傳播有關拖欠工資、違反合同及其他勞動糾紛的信息。

Cabdrivers in China have long complained about low wages and long days, but the recent strikes appear to also have been fueled by the spread of ride-hailing apps like Uber and a flurry of news media attention to what many drivers say is unfair competition.

中國的出租車司機一直在抱怨收入低、工作時間長，但推動近期停運事件的，似乎還有優步(Uber)等打車軟件的流行，以及新聞媒體對許多司機口中的不公平競爭的密集關注。

Last week, the central government introduced new rules that prohibit privately owned vehicles from using such apps to offer rides. In an announcement posted on its website last Thursday, the Ministry of Transport said that only licensed taxis could use ride-hailing apps, a ruling that would seem to favor homegrown Chinese apps that allow users to summon licensed taxis by paying an additional fee.

上週，中央政府出臺了禁止私家車利用此類軟件提供打車服務的新規定。交通運輸部上週四在其網站上發表聲明，宣佈只有通過認證的租賃車輛才能使用打車軟件。這個決定似乎有利於中國本土的應用——它們允許用戶通過支付額外費用的方式來招叫有牌照的出租車。

“While we encourage innovation, we prohibit private cars from using platforms to participate in the ‘hired car’ business,” the ministry wrote.

交通運輸部在文中寫道，“鼓勵創新但禁止私家車接入平臺參與‘專車’經營。”

Uber drivers in a number of Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Chongqing, have been fined in recent weeks, but the service remains widely available. Huang Min, a spokeswoman for Uber in China, said the company had not been contacted by the authorities.

最近幾周，上海和重慶等一些中國城市的優步司機遭遇了罰款，但該服務仍然能廣泛使用。優步中國公關部的黃敏表示，政府監管機構尚未聯繫該公司。

Geoffrey Crothall of China Labor Bulletin said the news media’s focus on ride-hailing apps obscured the main complaint of the Chinese taxi drivers: that rapacious fleet companies charge onerous rental fees that leave drivers with little to show for their toil.

中國勞工通訊的郭展睿(Geoffrey Crothall)表示，新聞媒體對打車軟件的關注掩蓋了中國出租車司機的主要困擾：那些唯利是圖的出租車公司經常收取鉅額份子錢，讓司機辛苦掙來的錢所剩無幾。

“Drivers are basically held hostage to the companies, and they are constantly getting squeezed,” he said. “But the discussion of these apps seems to have encouraged taxi drivers to press their case and try to draw attention to their longstanding grievances.”

“司機基本被公司挾持了，而且不斷受到壓榨，”他說。 “不過，關於這些應用的討論似乎鼓勵了出租車司機，促使他們去表達自己的觀點，努力讓人們注意到他們長期以來的不滿。”

The strikes, it seems, are having the desired effect, and a number of newspapers in recent days have published commentaries supporting the plight of the drivers. In an editorial published on Jan. 6, the official People’s Daily described the current system as “deformed” and called for an end to the monopoly enjoyed by cab companies, many of which are owned by well-connected businessmen.

這些罷運活動似乎正在取得預期效果。報刊雜誌最近幾天紛紛發表評論，對司機的難處表示支持。官媒《人民日報》在發表於1月6日的社論文章中稱，當前的出租車行業發展極爲“畸形”，並呼籲打破出租車公司的壟斷局面。許多公司的所有者是擁有強大關係網的商人。

“The drivers are in an absolutely weak position,” the editorial said. “It’s time to reform the taxi system. The matters of the market should be left for the market to decide.”

“出租車司機處於絕對的弱勢地位，”這篇社論稱。“難的是，在出租車領域深化改革。市場的事，應該由市場說了算。”