中国出租车司机罢工此起彼伏

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，中国四五座城市的出租车司机举行罢运，抗议他们眼中的问题——费用高涨、收入减少，以及层出不穷的新打车软件引发的竞争。

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.

社交媒体上有帖子称，本周早些时候，东北老工业城市长春的数百名出租车司机封锁了道路，导致警方出手干预，抓走了数十名司机。这些帖子后来被审查部门删除。

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、江西省会南昌等城市的出租车司机也参与了有组织的停运活动。

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.

上周，位于长江三角洲地区的繁华都市南京的出租车司机停工两天，导致机场、火车站及公交站的成千上万名乘客争相寻找替代的交通工具。

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.”

《中国日报》的一篇报道称，一名司机抱怨他需要将超过一半的收入上交给出租车公司。“我每天早上不到6点起床，然后一天开大约14个小时的车，每个月只能挣2000块，”司机刘兴友（音）说。“实在熬不下去了。”

His income is $70 less than the national average.

他的月收入比全国平均水平低大约430元人民币。

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.

虽然出租车罢运在中国并不是什么新鲜事，但全国各地纷纷效仿的现象突显了社交媒体的组织能力，给基本不能容忍劳工骚动的政府带来了挑战。

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.

总部位于香港的监督组织“中国劳工通讯”(China Labor Bulletin)透露，中国大陆的劳工运动在过去一年中激增，去年第四季度共出现569起此类事件，同比增加了两倍。

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.

该组织表示，卡车司机、建筑工人及矿工的抗议和罢工活动不断增加，其原因很可能是经济放缓，不过廉价智能手机的流行也不容忽视。组织者可以通过手机传播有关拖欠工资、违反合同及其他劳动纠纷的信息。

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.

中国的出租车司机一直在抱怨收入低、工作时间长，但推动近期停运事件的，似乎还有优步(Uber)等打车软件的流行，以及新闻媒体对许多司机口中的不公平竞争的密集关注。

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.

上周，中央政府出台了禁止私家车利用此类软件提供打车服务的新规定。交通运输部上周四在其网站上发表声明，宣布只有通过认证的租赁车辆才能使用打车软件。这个决定似乎有利于中国本土的应用——它们允许用户通过支付额外费用的方式来招叫有牌照的出租车。

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

交通运输部在文中写道，“鼓励创新但禁止私家车接入平台参与‘专车’经营。”

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.

最近几周，上海和重庆等一些中国城市的优步司机遭遇了罚款，但该服务仍然能广泛使用。优步中国公关部的黄敏表示，政府监管机构尚未联系该公司。

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.

中国劳工通讯的郭展睿(Geoffrey Crothall)表示，新闻媒体对打车软件的关注掩盖了中国出租车司机的主要困扰：那些唯利是图的出租车公司经常收取巨额份子钱，让司机辛苦挣来的钱所剩无几。

“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.”

“司机基本被公司挟持了，而且不断受到压榨，”他说。 “不过，关于这些应用的讨论似乎鼓励了出租车司机，促使他们去表达自己的观点，努力让人们注意到他们长期以来的不满。”

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.

这些罢运活动似乎正在取得预期效果。报刊杂志最近几天纷纷发表评论，对司机的难处表示支持。官媒《人民日报》在发表于1月6日的社论文章中称，当前的出租车行业发展极为“畸形”，并呼吁打破出租车公司的垄断局面。许多公司的所有者是拥有强大关系网的商人。

“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.”

“出租车司机处于绝对的弱势地位，”这篇社论称。“难的是，在出租车领域深化改革。市场的事，应该由市场说了算。”