However, cleaning personnel have deplored their working conditions, which they say are worsening continuously. A recent conference at the Chamber of Employees made the situation abundantly clear.
The sector primarily employs foreign women, namely 12,000. These employees have complained about a number of issues, including a lack of recognition, low wages, and above all increasing amount of work that is no longer manageable. They also deplore the lack of respect of their rights and being treated like dogs. The number of people working in the sector is dropping all the while those remaining must carry out the same amount of work.
One example cited is that cleaning staff get reduced by 50%, leaving, as an example, one woman to clean 90 offices and toilets in four hours. Both staff delegates and other employees throughout the sector have likened their working conditions to modern slavery.
On Wednesday, collective agreement negotiations began. The OGBL and LCGB trade unions have put together communal demands, including linear wage increases and the right to free paper copies of payslips. This last demand refers to the fact that some businesses make cleaners pay €5 for their payslips.
