Taxi drivers took their struggle for better respect of their rights off the road, in Wenling, Zhejiang Province and Xi'an, Shaanxi Province on Wednesday, International Labor Day.

About 100 taxi drivers gathered in Wenling's Chengxi community around 7 am on Wednesday morning to voice concerns over declining income and rampant illegal taxis, according to a statement on the official website of the Wenling government Wednesday afternoon.

The statement said that the city government paid attention to the case, and around 8 am, senior officials from the city transport bureau and seven cab companies arrived at the site to communicate with the drivers.

The transport bureau officials accepted the drivers' questions, and promised to work out plans before May 10, and urged the drivers to leave. When some drivers stayed, the city government then arranged a work group to help solve the case, and local traffic police began to take measures to maintain traffic order, the statement said.

"When I arrived at the site around 9 am, many drivers were there," a Wenling Daily reporter surnamed Zhu told the Global Times, adding that there were several hundred taxis.

An officer from a local cab rental company confirmed to the Global Times that the many illegal taxis grab a lot of business from local taxi drivers.

Taxi drivers also complained about a lack of taxi stops in the urban area and of the bureaucratic management by local authorities, Zhu said. "Taxi drivers are always fined when they pick up passengers in busy areas in the urban area where there are few special taxi areas."

In Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, drivers with similar complaints did not work on May Day, which was a national holiday.

Cabbies in Xi'an complained about low meter fairs and the plethora of illegal taxis, said Sun Chunlong, a local taxi driver.

Sun told the Global Times that he must pay 8,800 yuan a month for the right to drive a taxi and that consumes almost two thirds of the money he earns from customers.

He also complained that drivers must now pay huge fees to get a taxi operating license. "The current 20,000 yuan ($3,242) cash fee sometimes isn't enough to get your taxi on the road. You have to offer another 30,000 yuan for the right to operate it."