Macrodose

"The biggest problem is that they choose the lowest bid. That ends up being paid by the worker."
Our taxes might be used to exploit cleaners through public contracts. But how does it work, who is responsible for this, and what can we do about it?
In this episode, we follow the money. We expose how "public procurement"—the system by which governments award cleaning 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.
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."
🔔Subscribe now and join us every week as we bring to the forefront the hidden stories behind Europe’s most essential workforce who hardly get any credit.
🎧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.

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at who new prime minister Andy Burnham has chosen to be his Chancellor of the Exchequer (0:42), how wildfire season is increasingly becoming a wider phenomenon driven by rising global temperatures (9:01), and how the collapse in the market of lab monkeys is impacting biomedical research around the world (14:03).
Subscribe to support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at ⁠macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.
To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠⁠⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠⁠⁠.
Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:⁠⁠https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station

"We are the invisibles. We clean when no one is around."
Most people work during the day. But for nearly half of Europe's cleaners, the shift begins when everyone else goes home.
In this episode, we examine the hidden toll of night work and split shifts—and why daytime cleaning is a proven, humane alternative. We hear from two cleaners living in two different realities: one trapped in the exhaustion of the night, and the other working under a better system but with its own challenges.
In this episode, we hear from:
🌙Steffi (Stephanie) Wlodraski, who worked as a cleaner in Germany since she was fifteen. She now represents her colleagues as the German representative on the European works council. She describes the physical and social destruction of working while the world sleeps—lost friendships, disrupted family life, and a body that "eventually breaks down."
☀️Naemy Aasen, a cleaner and trade unionist from Norway who works continuous daytime shifts. She explains how daytime cleaning allows her to see her children, attend their activities, and have a life outside work—and why her country's model could work anywhere.
📊Karin Sardadvar, a sociologist in Vienna who researches split shifts and night work. She reveals how split shifts create "time theft," destroy social integration, and leave cleaners commuting for hours—sometimes not seeing their children all week.
🇮🇹Paola Basetti, National Secretary for Cleaning at CGIL (Italian General Confederation of Labour). She explains how fragmented schedules don't just exhaust workers—they make it nearly impossible for unions to organise them, trapping cleaners in a cycle of precarity.
🔔Subscribe now and join us every week as we bring to the forefront the hidden stories behind Europe’s most essential workforce who hardly get any credit.
🎧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 dubbers Maureen Hick and Alessandra Giannessi.

On this week's Macrodose, James Meadway looks at the impact of the unholy pairing of the El Nino phenomenon and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (0:46), how one hedge fund is looking to capitalise financially on disruption caused by El Nino (7:00), and how the European heatwave continues to underline the need for climate adaptation (9:41).
Subscribe to support the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/Macrodose.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your pledge is a donation supporting free public education; perks are thank-you gifts for your support.
Got a question or comment? Reach out to us at ⁠macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk⁠.
To learn more about the work we do at Planet B Productions, head to ⁠⁠⁠planetbproductions.co.uk⁠⁠⁠.
Listen to Death In Westminster - a new documentary podcast from Planet B Productions & Novara Media:⁠⁠https://novaramedia.com/category/audio/death-in-westminster/#the-station

"The only time people notice what a cleaner does is when she doesn't do it."
They disinfect hospital wards, scrub office floors, and sanitise the spaces we all rely on. Yet cleaners are among the most invisible workers in Europe.
In this first episode, we pull back the curtain on a typical day in the life of a cleaner. From the marble corridors of the European Parliament to a high-dependency hospital unit in Ireland, we hear what it really means to do essential work that almost no one sees.
In this episode, we hear from:
🧹Hayat Elhore, a cleaner at the European Parliament in Brussels, union representative, and mother who fought for daytime cleaning. She shares what it's like to clean a building that symbolises democracy—while often being treated as invisible.
🏥Lisa Stenson, a hospital cleaner in Ireland with over 16 years of experience. She 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.
📖Véronique Achille-Revillod, General Secretary of CFDT Services and author of "Essential, If Essential" (Essentiels si essentiels). She traces how cleaning work has been devalued for centuries—from enslaved people to today's outsourced workforce—and argues it's time to recognise the real skills behind the mop.
🇮🇹Giusy Sferruzza, collective bargaining officer at FISASCAT-CISL (Italian Confederation of Workers' Unions). She reflects on how the pandemic briefly made cleaners "essential" in the public eye—and why that recognition failed to translate into lasting economic or regulatory change.
🔔 Subscribe now and join us every week as we bring to the forefront the hidden stories behind Europe’s most essential workforce who hardly get any credit.
🎧 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 dubbers Seden Anlar, Alessia Mora and Alessandra Giannessi.