'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.

(Shanghai Daily July 4, 2005)