Drivers strike over pay, fines
4/7/2005 7:36
Dong Zhen/Shanghai Daily news
About 100 contract delivery drivers held a 10-hour strike yesterday, over
unreasonable fining policies, poor payment and intense workload. The strike
delayed deliveries to hundreds of customers who had ordered new air conditioners
to deal with the heatwave. The drivers are contracted to logistics companies
serving Yongle Household Electrical Appliances' delivery center in Nanhui
District's Kangqiao area. They have contracts to rent 0.6 or 0.9-ton cargo
vans. The 200 other drivers who own their vehicles didn't join the
strike. The striking drivers complained they could barely break after severe
fines for performance failure, even though they work hard and overtime every
day. Drivers rent a van for more than 5,000 yuan (US$602) a month. They have
to hire their own porter and buy gasoline. While most of them work more than
18 hours a day, a complaint from a customer could cost them a fine of up to 200
yuan. "The fines could be for any reason. Sometimes because the goods arrived
late, but we are too busy," said Zhao Junfeng, a driver from Shaanxi
Province. Zhao works almost every day until 1am or 2am, but he said he had
been losing money since May when he signed the contract to rent a 0.9-ton
van. Another driver, Wu Jun, said they were constantly fined by traffic
police for oversized loads, which cost 100 yuan each time. "But we have to
load as many appliances as possible because we receive too many orders from the
delivery center every day," Wu said. While some drivers earn a net income of
1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan a month, most said they were losing or just breaking
even. While the logistics companies paid the money based on the number of
appliances delivered, the drivers said the firms should raise the payment and
classify the pricing of delivery for different appliances more
reasonably. Some drivers, such as Zhao, decided to quit, but were told they
must pay several thousand yuan for breaching the contract before they could
leave. The strike began early yesterday and most drivers resumed work at 4pm
after the firms offered to consider modifying the contracts and fining policy
and give them a reply in five days. Yongle spokesman Huang Jianping said last
night the dispute was with the logistics companies and not with
Yongle.
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