Vinasun taxi drivers raised banner asking for higher pay before the company headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday.

Hundreds of taxi drivers demonstrated outside the Vinasun company in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday demanding higher pay.

The drivers said they’d been promised 55 percent of the daily collection, but this had been cut to 51 percent by the company, citing the economic crisis and higher gas prices.

However the drivers argued that they, and not the company, were paying for the gas.

Their monthly incomes had dropped from VND5-7 million (US$278-389) each to VND3-4 million, depending on the size of the cars, they said.

Another grievance of the drivers was that the company had collected money from them to carry out a project against robberies, but the project was stopped and they were not given their money back.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the drivers parked around 150 cars in a wildcat strike along several streets in Districts 7 and Binh Tan from morning to evening, forcing traffic police to intervene and restore order.

Ta Long Hy, director of the Vinasun Taxi Company, said the proportion has never been changed and was “reasonable.”

“It’s not small at all compared to other taxi companies,” he said.

Hy told Thanh Nien Thursday the company will meet Friday to discuss the remuneration for drivers and will announce the final decision later in the day.

Truong Lam Danh, vice chairman of HCMC Labor Union, said “This is a dispute over interests, not rights.”

Danh said the drivers should stay calm, continue doing their jobs and report the situation to the company labor union or higher authorities if necessary.

The taxi drivers have carried out several small strikes since late August and the company labor union has asked the company leaders to meet with the drivers to solve the problem.

Most drivers said they would continue the strike until they received a higher share from the company.

Meanwhile the company has asked the police to find out who incited the strike and damaged its business.

Source: Thanh Nien, TT