Macrodose

"As a migrant working here… it's not easy, and it has never been easy."
In many European countries, a staggering proportion of cleaners come from migrant backgrounds. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s a pattern shaped by discriminatory immigration policies, labour market barriers, and the systematic failure to recognise qualifications and skils gained elsewhere.
In this episode, we explore the intersection of migration, gender, labour exploitation, and the fight for dignity. We hear how visa status compounds precarity, how unrecognised qualifications trap skilled professionals in low-paid work, and how migrant workers— women and men—are fighting back against a system designed to keep them invisible.
In this episode, we hear from:🇬🇭Kwasi Agyemang-Prempeh, a trained industrial mechanic who cleaned the London offices of Goldman Sachs for over 20 years—at night. He describes the psychological landscape of navigating immense wealth while being treated as disposable—and how his union saved his job when his employer tried to push him out.
🇩🇪Zeynep Bicici, President of UNI Europa Property Services. She reveals how structural problems—unrecognised qualifications, language barriers, and low wages—force migrant women into cleaning, and why "equality only really exists when I have an income that lets me live decently."
🇸🇪Ewa Edstrom, union officer at Fastighets (Swedish Property Workers' Union) and former cleaner. She explains how rising anti-migrant rhetoric creates fear and insecurity—and why collective agreements are the best defence: "Every worker in Sweden should be covered."
🔔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 and to Seden Anlar for dubbing.

"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