Cleaners in public buildings in Geneva want to return to the public sector

Several years ago, the Geneva office in charge of public buildings in the Canton took the decision to contract out the cleaning work in the buildings to private companies. This has resulted in a huge loss for the workers, and they are campaigning for the cleaning to return to the public sector.

PSI affiliate in Switzerland, SSP, has sent a petition with more than 2,500 signatures to the Grand Council of Geneva, asking them to reintegrate the cleaning staff into the public service. They have published a video comparing the working conditions faced by cleaning staff in the public and private sectors.

In the public sector, the salary of a cleaner after 12 months is 24.30 CHF, against 20.60 CHF in the private sector. A cleaner who has worked in the public sector for 22 years will earn 33.40 CHF, whereas in the private sector, the cleaner with 22 years’ experience will still earn the starting salary of 20.60 CHF.

A cleaner in the public sector works 40 hours a week and benefits from 5 weeks’ holiday per year. The private sector cleaner works 43 hours a week and has only 4 weeks’ holiday per year.

Maternity leave for a public sector cleaner is 20 weeks, whereas a private sector cleaner will have only 16 weeks’ maternity leave.

The cleaners will join the women’s strike in Geneva on 14 June 2019.

For more information (in French)