Meet your cleaners
Meet your cleaners.
Ofelia
Ofelia Beltan used to love her job, working as a cleaner at a suburban shopping centres in Melbourne. But as her grinding workload grows and her hours are cut back, Ofelia has become ever more depressed with the job she once enjoyed. more
Wendy
For shopping centre cleaner Wendy Viccars, the most precious commodity in her job is time. Twelve years ago, time was something she had plenty of. But now there's never enough to get her job done. more
Christine
My name is Christine and I work for Spotless at Westfield Tea Tree Plaza as a toilet cleaner. Working here is very hard and sometimes the conditions are awful. People drink alcohol and sleep in the toilets; people have fights outside and come to toilets to wash. We have to clean blood, as well as faeces and vomit because people miss the toilet bowl. People even foul their clothes and leave them in toilets. more
Cathy
My name is Cathy and I clean a retail store in a Westfield centre in South Australia. I became a cleaner because I wanted to go back to work just part time now the kids have grown up. I was always going to my local shopping centre so I thought I'd like that because I like working with people. But I've worked in that centre for 10 years now and in that 10 years my hourly rate has only gone up by only $3. The workloads have increased but our hours have been reduced and our staff numbers have been cut severely. I have minimum hours and I feel I do not have enough time to do the job, but I like the work and I pride myself in my work. more
Jason
To explain what it is like living on $16 an hour, I will some it up in one word; 'a battle'. more
Mariam
I came from the Sudan a number of years ago. I left because I wanted to bring my daughters up in a safe and comfortable place. But now, I earn only $16 an hour which is too little to live on. I live by myself since my husband died, so there is no other income. Each fortnight, I earn around $1,000. My rent is $600 a fortnight, then when you add bills and food, I have nothing left. more
David
At the present time I earn $16 an hour and to live on that is very hard. Because when I get my pay, three quarters of it goes direct on my rent. That is a massive chunk. I pay $750 a fortnight. Now with increasing electricity prices, food prices, and day to day living is a struggle. more
Noelle
Right now, we have 3 cleaners on annual leave, 1 on long service leave, 1 out with a work injury and 1 on stress leave. We are 6 cleaners down, during the school holidays in one of South East Queensland’s biggest tourist centres. The workloads are bad enough at the best of times, but when we have so many cleaners out it is impossible. more
Rosa
I work hard on the floor of my centre making sure customers are safe from spills and tenants are happy. But, for all of our hard work, $16 is just not enough. These days everything is expensive and I have 3 children to take care of. There is not always enough money to pay the bills and it’s very hard to cover the mortgage. Please support the clean start campaign so that our lives can improve. more
Ercilia
I rush all the time making sure the toilets are clean day in day out, but we don’t get enough time to clean them properly. This means customers are sometimes upset, but it is because we are understaffed because contracts are so low. I work really hard but only get $16 an hour, but it isn’t enough for the work I do. more
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