Recently, a strike occurred in Nanchong, Sichuan. The cause was the excessively high regulation fees for local taxi drivers, and the details are shocking. According to a driver: the monthly rent is as high as 6,225 yuan, which means paying 200 yuan every day. Even if a taxi runs all day until four or five o’clock, it can only earn about 300 yuan. Taxi companies not only extract nearly all of the drivers’ income through regulation fees but also owe insurance premiums mandated by law[1]. This inevitably reminds people of the old China period during the Republic of China when rickshaw pullers rented their labor from capitalists and were forced to hand over most of their income to rickshaw owners.
In fact, the phenomenon of modern rickshaw pullers is no longer new. The “share money” for taxis has existed for a long time and is entirely a product of capitalist private ownership. As early as the last century, due to the government’s restrictions on taxi quotas in each city, only those with taxi franchise rights and licenses could operate taxis. Wealthier capitalists naturally monopolized these rights and licenses. According to statistics, in 85% of Chinese cities, taxi licenses are controlled either by the government or by taxi companies closely linked to the government, then contracted out to drivers[2]. Just as landlords in capitalist society do not labor or develop productive forces but rely solely on land ownership monopoly to reap large amounts of land rent, the capitalists in the taxi industry rely on the monopoly of taxi operation rights to extract huge “management fees” from drivers. This is a reappearance of the old society’s rickshaw industry in today’s so-called “new society”: in old Shanghai during the Republic of China, rickshaw licenses were monopolized by imperialist concession authorities, foreign rickshaw companies bought licenses from the concession authorities, then rented them to comprador capitalists, and finally sublet to drivers[3]. The share money at that time was quite high due to layers of exploitation, reaching 25 silver dollars per month[4]. How much is the share money for modern rickshaw pullers? According to a 2015 official statistic recognized by the government, taxi drivers’ share money reached 6,200 yuan per month[5], which is equivalent to two months’ income for the lowest laborers. This is undoubtedly a heavy burden on taxi drivers. Besides this fee, drivers also bear costs like fuel, and if the taxi does not belong to them, they must pay another rental fee. In 2015, taxi drivers in Changchun had to pay a deposit of 40,000 yuan to rent a taxi, and their daily share money was as high as 240 to 280 yuan, while the starting fare in Changchun was only 5 yuan[6]. As a result, drivers often need to work ten to twelve hours daily just to make a living. Long-term fatigue driving leads to various consequences: either they have to violate traffic rules and pay fines or suffer health damage. Many taxi drivers develop chronic illnesses such as lumbar disc herniation or gastritis due to work. In 2021, a taxi driver in Xi’an died suddenly after stopping on the roadside due to health issues, while indifferent police from the authorities ignored the driver’s condition and even pasted a ticket on the car window[7].
Faced with the naked plunder by the taxi industry’s bourgeoisie, drivers have risen in struggle. In 2015, over 100,000 drivers across China—from the south to the north, from Sichuan to Shandong to Jilin—went on strike to protest the high share fees[8]. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when taxi drivers faced difficulties in carrying passengers, the greedy capitalists did not stop collecting share money, even when drivers hardly picked up any passengers. This quickly triggered nationwide strikes and protests from south to north. According to the Chinese labor organization “China Labour Bulletin,” during the Spring Festival of 2020 alone, ten protest movements were organized by taxi drivers, seven of which targeted the share money[9].
In response to this situation, the government on the one hand issued hypocritical policies of “reducing or exempting share fees,” and on the other hand, promoted the so-called new online ride-hailing model[10]. However, the capitalist nature of profit-seeking remains unchanged. Ride-hailing platforms are also a group of bloodsuckers, and the government colludes with them to exploit drivers. Since 2016, under the pretext of “strengthening management,” the government has introduced regulations requiring ride-hailing drivers to hold both a driver’s license and a vehicle certificate to carry passengers, with strict requirements for vehicle qualifications—non-new energy vehicles must cost at least 150,000 yuan[11]. The driver’s license for ride-hailing also requires passing difficult exams, almost cutting off the possibility for many low-level drivers to operate independently. Drivers without the “double certificate” can only sign contracts with ride-hailing platforms and use their certificates to operate illegally, thus allowing these platforms to monopolize the market with government support. Additionally, due to the economic downturn, many unemployed people are forced into delivery or ride-hailing industries to survive, leading to an oversupply of labor in the ride-hailing market. Capitalists on the platforms often take 20-30% of drivers’ earnings, and some drivers have exposed “shadow billing,” where the actual amount paid by passengers is higher than the platform’s bill, with the difference silently pocketed by capitalists[12]. The working conditions for ride-hailing drivers are also harsh. According to a statistic from last year, 46.5% of ride-hailing drivers work more than 12 hours daily[13].
From this, it is clear that the root cause of the current tragic situation of taxi drivers is the capitalist system. The government colludes with the monopolistic bourgeoisie of the taxi industry, jointly exploiting drivers just like imperialists and comprador capitalists did in old China to the rickshaw pullers. Therefore, to fundamentally change the plight of driver comrades, merely fighting for reductions or exemptions of share fees is far from enough. Only by completely smashing this exploitative capitalist system and following the path of socialist revolution led by Chairman Mao can the modern “rickshaw pullers” achieve liberation.
【曝南充大量出租车司机罢工停运，司机：月租6225，没生意很难跑】 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12DmyYYEDw ↩︎
https://finance.people.com.cn/n/2015/0115/c1004-26386948.html ↩︎
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-taxi-drivers-20150114/2597631.html ↩︎
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-taxi-drivers-20150114/2597631.html ↩︎
https://clb.org.hk/zh-hans/content/疫情下出租车行业处境艰难，司机诉诸集体行动求存 ↩︎
https://news.cctv.com/2020/10/24/ARTIwIh3KtFZLzeEHwP1GB5T201024.shtml ↩︎
https://finance.sina.com.cn/wm/2024-08-21/doc-inckmfqa7640444.shtml ↩︎