16 sanitation workers went on strike in early August in Shangrao, Jiangxi protesting four months of unpaid wages. In an interview with local media, residents complained of the unbearable smell as trash lay uncollected for days through the summer sun and rain.
Residents and the property management company were forced to assemble their own teams to collect the garbage. The news report claimed the arrears came from some residents not paying fees to the management company.
In August there were similar incidents at private estates across China in the cities of Yantai, Kunming and Yangzhou where workers demanded better pay and conditions from property management companies.