Dear friends, dear readers,
The 3rd episode of our podcast Unsung Cleaners is out now. The first two episodes have amassed more than 6500 listens and the third one has already been listened to by more than 1000 people since its release this morning
Please share it, like it and listen to it.
“The biggest problem is that they choose the lowest bid. That ends up being paid by the worker.”
In this episode of our documentary podcast “Unsung: Cleaners” (link in comments), we follow the money. We expose how “public procurement”—the system by which governments award public contracts—has created a race to the bottom.
When contracts go to the cheapest bidder, the savings come from one place only: workers’ wages, hours, and dignity. But change is on the horizon: the European Commission plans to reform procurement rules—and workers mobilise so they get it right.
In this episode, we hear from:
🇫🇮 Niina Autio from Finland, a cleaner and team leader who has worked in schools, museums, and police stations. She describes the “ethical stress” of watching colleagues lose negotiated salaries and holiday pay when contracts change hands—and why the “cheapest offer is not the best offer.”
🇪🇸 Natalia Higueras Lopez from Spain, a cleaner for 18 years, always under outsourced public contracts. She explains how Spain’s high rate of temporary employment traps cleaners in part-time, precarious jobs—and why the “lowest bid” means fewer staff, no replacements for sick leave, and chronic fatigue.
📚 Dr Karen Jaehrling, labour researcher and contributor to the ProcuFair project. She explains how public authorities have the power to set fair conditions—and why simply writing good rules isn’t enough; monitoring is essential.
🇧🇪 Joost Engelaar, Regional Secretary at the Belgian Union ABVV Brussels (FGTB), who led a national campaign to stop the race to the bottom. He describes mobilising cleaners at the airport, in schools, and on small sites—and why collective action can force clients to “procure responsibly.”
🎧“Unsung: Cleaners” is a podcast by UNI Europa, co-funded by the European Commission. The show is produced by Seden Anlar. Interviews and narration by Gail Rego. Project coordination and interpretation by Alessia Mora and Mark Bergfeld. Special thanks to all the cleaners and union organisers who shared their stories as well as Katharine Shaw Nelson for dubbing.
Listen now on your favourite platform: https://pod.fo/e/493c51
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