About this episode

This episode explores the negative impacts of public procurement on workers' wages and conditions in the cleaning industry.

"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…

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