China: Citywide taxi strike

More than ten thousand taxi drivers in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province have gone on strike starting July 30, a number of blog posts yesterday and today are saying. The reason for the strike remains largely unclear and Chinese media have yet to report on the situation, but at least one blogger is saying that the local authorities are dealing with the situation by bringing in cabs and drivers from surrounding cities.

From Live Spaces blogger Weichen 22:

郑州的出租车罢工了

Zhengzhou's taxis have gone on strike

今天出租车罢工,给我罢郁闷了,怎么着也打不到车,好容易打到一个司机还要挑地方,大路可以走小路不拉···原因是怕同行看见他拉车把他车给砸了,据说上午已经出现了几例。对了,还不敢打表。
都疯了···
没有出租车的日子还真的挺难,市政府的头们估计今天是一个脑袋两个大。中国的通货膨胀已经让中央集团头晕脑热,人心动荡。真是大有大的乱法儿,小有小的闹法儿

The taxis went on strike today, I'm pretty bummed. No matter what you do you can't get a taxi, and if you finally do the driver don't let you choose the route; main roads are okay, but not little ones…they're afraid other drivers will see them and smash into their car. They're saying it's happened a few times already. Oh, and nobody dares use the fare meter.
Craziness…
Days without taxis are so hard to get through. I guess the city government is in over its head with this one. Inflation in China has already left the central government dizzy with brain fever, the people are uneasy. Little people know how to make little screw-ups, but only the big guys can pull off something like this.

Ycul blogger Li Yaoshuai:

在郑州出差

Business Trip to Zhengzhou

在郑州出差。出租车司机今天罢工了,一辆辆车在街上开过,都挂着牌:今天休息。但说休息又不真的休息,就来回遛,给需要坐但又坐不上的人一个刺激。
我没有车坐。但到郑州怎能不去喝羊肉汤呢?所以叫来好友黄威想办法。黄威是坐公交来的。看到这些来回游荡但在休息的出租车,黄威表示:不能受这窝囊气,年后要买车!
我心说,买了车上面写个牌子,天天休息。然后天天在郑州城里逛。怎么样?
当然,我并不反对出租车司机罢工。或许罢工是有道理的。——只不过坐不上车发几句牢骚罢了。
后来找了辆三蹦子,突突突,直奔羊肉汤店。喝完拉倒,再坐三蹦子,突突突,回酒店。今天三绷子扬眉吐气了:世界是你们的,也是我们的,就今天来说,是我们的!女司机,一位大嫂发了狠话:
瞧那些时样的,平时不坐我们的车,打的,今天怎么不打呢?
下车时黄威付钱。大嫂指责我:你看你脖子里挂着珠子,也不掏钱!谁时样我说谁!
我就让她说,心里高兴极了。

In Zhengzhou for a business trip. All the taxi drivers have gone on strike. Taxis keep going down the street, but they've all got a sign in the windshield: ‘not in service.’ They say that but it's not for real, they're just driving around, pissing off people who really need a ride by not giving them one.
I don't own a car. But then I go to Zhengzhou and I can't even go out for mutton dinner. So I called my buddy Huang Wei up to think of a way out of this. Huang Wei took the bus over, and seeing all the taxis just wandering around said: this is so pointless. I can't take it. Next year I'm buying a car!
Here's what I'm thinking: I'll go buy a car and put up a sign: ‘no service everyday’ and then go drive around Zhengzhou city. How about that?
Of course, I'm not opposed to the taxi drivers going on strike. At least striking has some sense to it—but do your strike thing, launch a few complaints, and then get on with it.
Later I found a tuk-tuk, rush rush rushed, straight to the mutton shop. Drank until I couldn't drink anymore and took another tuk-tuk, rush rush rush, back to the hotel. Today the tuk-tuk drivers are in their glory: the world is yours, but it's ours too. As for today, it's all ours! One female driver, one big auntie, made this snipe:
“Just look, normally you'd never take our rides, take taxis instead. So where are your taxis now, huh?”
We got off and Huang Wei paid. The auntie pointed at me and said: look, she's got pearls hanging around her neck, so why doesn't she pay huh? Not so ‘in’ the way I see it!”
I just let her speak, and I was really happy inside.

Sina blogger Liu Gan, with photos and comments:

2007年7月30日,和往常一样月底来到郑州公司,不一样的是早上怎么也等不到出租车;真是奇怪!
好不容易等来了一辆!–(狂喜);
只见司机师傅很有礼貌的踩了一脚刹车,
然后用手指指前挡玻璃;
直见一张纸条
–《今日休息》!
又过了许久。。。
后来才听别的司机说:“今天我们罢工了!”
陆续又传来一位出租司机“拉活”–车被同伴砸了!
晚上19点左右,突然狂风四起,下起了暴雨,,,
还是见不到出租的影子!

July 30, 2007. As usual, at the end of the month I had to go to the Zhengzhou office. What's not as usual is when I got up in the morning I couldn't find a taxi. So strange!
Finally one came and I was madly happy
Only to see the driver pull up sharply
And point to a piece of paper
Taped on the windshield
“No service today!”
A lot more time went by…
Then I heard another driver say: “we're on strike today!”
And so it went on until one driver stopped for a “pick-up”—and another taxi drove right into his!
Around 7 pm, the wind suddenly started blowing from all directions, and heavy rain burst down…
Still no sign of taxis!

taxistrike.jpeg

到底怎么了!
这个城市发生了什么!
他们为什么这么做!
我们期待着明天的到来!
希望明天上班能坐到出租车!

What the heck is going on!
What's happened in this city?
Why are they doing this!
We're waiting to see what happens tomorrow!
Hoping tomorrow there will be taxis to take!

Reader comments:
[匿名] 新浪网友
2007-07-31 08:39:50
一群猪,郑州市zf就从隔壁市调过来几百辆车运营个百八十天,看看是哪个王八蛋着急!!!!

A bunch of pigs, the Zhengzhou city government has transferred a few hundred taxis from neighboring cities to operate here for six months. We'll just see those bastards squirm!!!

[匿名] 新浪网友
2007-07-31 08:45:43
以上评论针对引起这起事件的单位、组织!

My comment above was aimed at the work units and organizations that gave rise to this incident!

Would a city-wide taxi strike be enough to make one want to kill themselves? Sina blogger Yuyu812 jokes that it is in her post ‘Day One‘:

第一天变的特郁闷~~又开始淅淅沥沥的下雨~我有忽然变的不知所措~~不知道未来,不知道明天。。。虽然,拼死给自己定了目标。。知道如果要实现是难上加难的事。。。但是依然没了办法~~还只是默默接受~~
是不是默默接受的事太多了呢???让自己这样无措~
今天郑州出租车全体罢工~~果然,下了班出来从郑州北到郑州南。总共见了16辆出租车~14辆挂着牌-今日休息~~人民力量大~~估计那个不合理的改革也见不着下文了~~真是超强哎~~走完整个文化路只见了5辆~然后在27和火车站附近又见了9辆~~一路走的那叫个顺啊~~~真是从来没在下班时间走那么顺的路。。开始从农业路上拐文化路上还吓我一跳呢。。起码我前方100米内一辆车都没哎~这可是超不符合郑州实际情况呢~~劳动人民最光荣~~把劳动人民惹闹了。。任你是个谁出门让你打不着车~~

Day one has become such a bummer….and the rain has started pattering down again…I suddenly feel at a loss…I don't know what the future will be like, I don't know what tomorrow…although, in desperation I've given myself something to aim for…though I know that seeing it come true will be incredibly difficult…but I still have no choice…I can only silently accept this…
Does it sound like I'm silently accepting too much? That this is making me so forlorn?
Today all the taxis in Zhengzhou went on strike…sure enough, when I got off work I had to go from North Zhengzhou to South Zhengzhou. Of the 16 taxis I saw go by, 14 had ‘not in service’ signs up. The power of the people is so strong! But I guess anything that doesn't go along with reforms doesn't stand much of a chance. But what a strong sight! Down all of Wenhua Rd. I only saw 5 taxis, but then near 27th and the train station I saw another nine…I've never seen the traffic flow so smoothly…never seen it move so fast during rush hour. All the way from Nongye Rd. to Wenhua Rd. I was shocked—for at least 100 meters ahead of me I couldn't see a single taxi. This is way too much for reality in Zhengzhou…the working class are the most glorious. When the working class gets ticked off, they can even stop you from finding a single taxi starting the minute you walk out the door…

And Live Spaces Timer Xu, also on a business trip, just happened to be having bad luck yesterday with transportation mess-ups that only ended with his arrival in taxi-less Zhengzhou:

下午17:20 空姐说5分钟后可以降落郑州新郑机场。
下午17:25 飞机掠过新郑机场,空姐说新郑机场上空有降雨云层,不适合降落,机长决定备降洛阳机场。
下午17:38 飞机降落洛阳机场。洛阳机场小雨。
晚上18:40 飞机从洛阳起飞,前往郑州。
晚上19:00 到达郑州新郑机场。新郑机场小雨。
晚上19:30 坐机场大巴开始出发前往郑州市区。
晚上20:15 到达郑州民航酒店。郑州大雨。在酒店吃饭。
晚上21:00 吃饭完毕。郑州小雨。出酒店门口发现大街上没有一辆出租车。
揽客跑长途的黑车师傅说今天郑州万余出租车集体罢工, 晕倒。
晚上21:10 上了一辆三轮车。三轮车师傅很拽,不是火车站方向的不拉,没有选择的机会。
晚上21:29 坐三轮车到住处。三轮车师傅很拽,20元不打折,没有讲价的余地
一句话总结就是:7月底,出行不宜

Afternoon 5:20 Stewardess says we'll be arriving at Zhengzhou Airport in 5 minutes
Afternoon 5:25 The zooms over Zhengzhou Airport, the stewardess says the weather above Zhengzhou airport is cloudy with light showers, not suitable for landing, and the captain has decided to reroute to Luoyang Airport.
Afternoon 5:38 The plane lands at Luoyang Airport. Luoyang Airport has light rain.
Evening 6:40 The airplane takes off from Luoyang Airport, proceeds to Zhengzhou.
Evening 7:00 We arrive at Zhengzhou Airport. Zhengzhou Airport has light rain.
Evening 7:30 I take the airport shuttle toward downtown Zhengzhou.
Evening 8:15 Arrive at Zhengzhou Aviation Hotel. Zhengzhou has heavy rain. Eat in the hotel.
Evening 9:00 Finish eating. Zhengzhou has light rain. Go out the hotel door and see there's not a single taxi on the streets.
A guy scouting for passengers for an illegal long-distance taxi says the more than 10,000 taxi drivers in Zhengzhou have all gone on strike. I faint.
Evening 9:10 I get on a tuk-tuk. The tuk-tuk driver is very obstinate, will only go to the train station or won't go at all and refuses me any other choices.
Evening 9:29 Take a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. The tuk-tuk driver is very obstinate, 20 yuan or no deal, before I even tell him where I'm going.
A few words in conclusion for the end of July: not fit for travel!

6 comments

  • […] 天太热了,郑州出租车司机集体休息 […]

  • Anonymous

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    times the amount U.S, Britain, and Russia supply theirs.

    CLEARLY, LITTLE TAIWAN HAS GROWN TO SMALL TO SATISFY

    THE GROWING APPETITE OF THE HYPOCRITICAL CHINESE LEADERS

    WHO HAS POISONED MILLIONS OF ITS PEOPLE TO DEATH EVERY

    YEAR AND STILL TRY TO COVER UP THIS HIDEOUS TRUTH

    WITH TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS. THERE SOOO MANY OTHER EVEN

    WORSE TRUTHS ABOUT THESE LEADERS THAT WOULD TAKE UP

    PAGES TO DISCUSS IN DETAIL, SUCH AS INTENTIONALLY

    FUNDING TERROIST GROUPS FOR THE PURPOSE OF WEAKENING THE

    AMERICAN MILITARY AND SENDING OUT THOUSANDS OF CHINESE

    SPIES EVERY YEAR TO SEARCH FOR MILITARY AND SCIENTIFIC

    INFORMATION…

    PLEASE TAKE THIS MESSAGE SERIOUSLY AND REPORT TO THE

    FBI, INTERNATIONAL MEDIA, AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENT BEFORE

    CHINA’S MILITARY POWER GROWS TOO POWERFUL

    TO BE HANDLED…

  • […] 郑州出租车集体休息 ,看来人们的确感到了不便,但是理解与支持的人表面上不多,抱怨却不少。中国良好教育下的人民,思想果然高度与党保持一致 。 看看香港皇后码头示威中的香港警察 ,这才是政府与人民的正常关系。 […]

  • f00bar

    sorry but “中央集团” here means the central government (Beijing), not “state-owned enterprises”

  • Oops. Thanks very much, f00bar, I’ll change that right away.

  • waveact

    i have not seen that news on main chinese newspaper or web.If i want to see some ture information ,i must go to foreign website.My poor english cost me much time.

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