Taxi drivers encouraged to set up union branches

The All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), the country’s sole national trade union federation, is encouraging the taxi industry to set up union branches, after drivers in at least three cities went on strike earlier this month, Bloomberg reported. "Taxi drivers don’t have suitable and smooth channels for voicing their complaints, which has led to frequent mass incidents," the ACFTU said in a statement on its website. Taxi companies should set up collective bargaining mechanisims with their drivers and implement labor contracts that would set salaries, vacation time and social insurance payments, the statement added. Drivers in Sanya, Hainan province and Chongqing staged multi-day strikes earlier this month over competition from unlicensed taxis and rising vehicle rental costs.