Over the past five days, collective wage protests have erupted across China, involving construction workers, teachers, sanitation workers, and medical staff, highlighting the increasingly difficult situation facing grassroots workers amidst tight local finances. Meanwhile, a village in Zhejiang province has sparked widespread controversy and public outrage by forcibly collecting "sanitation management fees" and "parking fees" from residents, even threatening to lock up their vehicles if they refuse to pay. The local government has stated that it is investigating the matter.
In mid-May, the village committee of Wantang Village, Gushan Town, Yongkang City, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, issued a notice announcing that, effective May 10th, it would levy a "sanitation management fee" and a "parking fee" on all permanent residents and migrant workers: 80 yuan per year for adults, 40 yuan for children, and 500 yuan per car and tricycle. The notice also stated that overdue fees would be "investigated" starting June 1st, requiring each person to pay an additional fee ranging from 200 to 100 yuan. Their vehicles would be locked, and those found guilty of picking locks would be "dealt with as vandalism."
Mr. Li, a tenant in the village, told our station on Wednesday (21st) that this fee was never approved by the villagers, nor was it discussed at a public meeting. "I'm an outsider tenant, and I haven't heard of the village meeting approving this fee. When I lived in town, the cleaning fee was charged per household, but now it's per person. This is a typical example of arbitrary charges."
Village committee accused of extortion for forcibly collecting "sanitation fees"
Some villagers criticized the village committee's move as "blatant extortion." Another villager, Zhang Shun (a pseudonym), told our station, "Our family of five has to pay 400 yuan a year. We simply can't afford it. Is this still a country under Communist rule?"
In response, Zhengzhou rights activist Jia Lingmin told this station that village committees are grassroots self-governing organizations and all fees must obtain a "fee permit," otherwise they are illegal: "Garbage collection and parking fee collection must be authorized by the government. Otherwise, not only are fees charged arbitrarily, but they may also involve the transfer of benefits between village cadres and their relatives."
Our station called the Comprehensive Management Office of the Gushan Town Government on Wednesday. A staff member acknowledged that the incident had "generated significant attention online," but said the interview request needed to be reported to the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department and that they could not respond directly at this time. "Your question has received significant attention online, and we are currently addressing it. We will report your question to the Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department and will only accept an interview after approval."
As of press time, the authorities have not yet stated whether the charges have a legal basis.
A wave of wage demands is spreading across the country, leaving grassroots workers with no recourse to defend their rights.
Amid controversy surrounding arbitrary village-level fees, wage demands have erupted across the country. On May 18th, a collective wage demand erupted at a China Communications Construction Group project site in Shijiazhuang, Hebei. Workers unfurled banners protesting chronic wage arrears. One worker revealed to our station that since the Spring Festival, the company has repeatedly promised to pay their wages but has repeatedly failed to do so. "Our work is hard and exhausting, and we haven't lost a cent, yet the payment keeps coming. Some workers have sick family members and desperately need money to save their lives."
On the Guangdong Yangxin Expressway project, a section of the project undertaken by China Railway Seventh Engineering Group Co., Ltd. also sparked collective protests over wage issues. On May 19th, workers gathered in front of the project office, demanding payment of their unpaid wages. One worker said in a video: "We live in a prefabricated house and watch over it every day. They've asked for our wages several times, but they haven't even given a date."
In Nanning, Guangxi, 32 construction workers set up tents and made fires to cook in front of the Guangxi Power Transmission and Transformation Construction Co., Ltd. since May 16 because the company withheld their wages, indicating that they were "prepared for a long-term battle."
Teachers and sanitation workers' salaries have been in arrears for up to six months
Beyond the construction industry, the education system is also mired in wage arrears. On May 20th, several non-staff teachers in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province, revealed that their salaries had been in arrears for up to six months. One elementary school teacher stated, "Our monthly salary is only a little over 3,000 yuan, and we've been living on borrowed money for the past six months."
On the same day, a teacher in Shanxi posted on the social platform "Little Red Book" that the school demanded the recovery of the year-end bonuses issued since 2021 and part of the "after-school service fees", which aroused dissatisfaction among the teaching community.
According to a video posted by the overseas social media account "Yesterday" on Platform X, workers at the Qianlima Embroidery Factory in Haimen, Nantong, Jiangsu, went to the factory and the boss's home for two consecutive days on May 19 and 20 to demand their wages, but still received none. On May 17, Yunda Express workers in Dongyang, Jinhua, Zhejiang, went on strike for two consecutive days to demand their wages. On May 16, security guards at the MixC shopping mall in Suining, Sichuan, held banners outside the mall entrance demanding their wages after the agency "ran away." That same day, laid-off workers from the Longmei Group in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang, protested against three months of unpaid basic benefits, social security, and medical insurance.
Furthermore, salary issues are also emerging in the medical and sanitation sectors. On social media, a nurse at a public hospital in Gansu reported receiving a mere 1,300 yuan a month and having not received her performance bonus for four months, leaving her struggling. A female sanitation worker in Jiangxi lamented, "I start work at 5 a.m. every day, work over 10 hours, and only make 1,400 yuan a month. I'll never be a human again in my next life. It's too hard."
Experts: Stable structures are "biting back" on themselves
Mr. Zhang, a retired teacher from Guizhou University (who requested anonymity for security reasons), said that high local debt and tightening central policies have severely impacted grassroots fiscal operations, with frontline workers and contract workers being the most direct victims. He told this station, "In the past, it was migrant workers who demanded their wages, but now it's teachers, doctors, and sanitation workers. This shows that China's 'stable structure' is starting to backfire on itself." Mr. Zhang said, "They are the most vulnerable group. If they speak out, they will be suppressed and labeled as 'troublemakers,' but in reality, they just want to survive."
