"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.