With Strikes, China's New Middle Class Vents Anger

"The government is for the people. If they can't do a good job, then they should be apologetic to ordinary citizens," said Chen, who participated in a Nov. 10 strike with about 160 others.

Huang Shuzhong, a driver in Sanya, said he and his colleagues had been upset for months because the taxi companies refused to lower their management fees despite falling demand for transportation.

Huang said that taxi drivers had brought their concerns to government officials and the companies several times earlier in the year but that nothing had come of it. Some of the braver taxi drivers began talking about a strike in the fall, but everyone had been afraid to act, he said. "After hearing about Chongqing, everything changed. We felt we could do it, too," Huang said.

In Chongqing, leaflets urging the taxi drivers to go on strike appeared overnight in the first two days of November at places where they congregate. They were taped on the walls at the place where they change the white fabric seat covers each night and scattered on the ground at gas stations.

"Rise up!" one leaflet urged. "Let us all unite and strike together!"

In concise and eloquent prose, it listed four complaints -- it was difficult to get gasoline, the management fee they pay to taxi companies was too high, there were too many illegal "black" taxis taking away their work, and the meter was charging too little for waiting time. The leaflet also specified a date: Nov. 3.

Drivers shared plans for the strike by text message and word of mouth. Taxi driver Liu Mingsheng said the purpose of the strike "spoke to my heart."

"With my salary, I can have an ordinary life. I can buy books, toys and have medical treatment when I need it. But I can no longer have money to pay the bills and to go to dinner and drinks with friends," said Liu, 38, who used to work as a chauffeur for a state-owned company.

Drivers said the strike appeared highly organized -- although none would admit to knowing who set it up. Blockades were erected at parking lots and places were taxis line up. The few drivers who dared to work that day were roughly pulled out of their cars, and their vehicles were damaged.

Chongqing's Communist Party secretary, Bo Xilai, China's former commerce minister, responded by convening a meeting to discuss terms for ending the strike. No leaders emerged to take credit for organizing the protest, so the taxi companies selected their own representatives.

The meeting was broadcast live by the local TV station and even the official state news agency's online portal, Xinhuanet.com.

Sitting next to Bo was Tang Zhirong, who represented female taxi drivers in the city. Tang, 38, who has a college degree in accounting, said she has no regrets about the strike because the outcome was so positive.