11/07/2026
Check out this podcast on the lives of cleaning staff!
“The only time people notice what a cleaner does is when she doesn’t do it.”
Today, UNI Europa is releasing "Unsung: Cleaners", a documentary podcast bringing together the voices of cleaners across Europe, telling their stories in their own words.
From invisible labour and night shifts to dignity and organising for change, the five-part series explores the human stories behind one of the world’s most essential – and most overlooked – jobs: cleaning.
In the first episode released today, Hayat Elhore from ACV Voeding en Diensten, a cleaner at the European Parliament in Brussels, shares what it’s like to clean a building that symbolises democracy – while often being treated as invisible. She pulls back the curtain on a typical day in the life of a cleaner.
Lisa Stenson, a hospital cleaner in Ireland with over 16 years of experience and organised with SIPTU, explains the pride of cleaning life-saving equipment like incubators, the terror of being assigned to the first COVID ward and why cleaners are “skilled workers” who deserve to be paid properly.
The podcast is released as the EU overhauls its public procurement rules governing €2,000 billion in annual spending. The rules determine the working conditions of millions of cleaners who are employed by private companies but carry out public contracts.
Listen to the first epidose of "Unsung: Cleaners" (link in comments).
