Hello, would you like to briefly introduce yourself and your work?
Hello, I’m Evin, a 28-year-old master’s student from Turkey, and I also work as a cleaner. For about a year and a half, I’ve been cleaning an office in the evenings as part of a cleaning company. I work 1.5 hours a day, so this is a minijob. Normally, it wouldn’t be possible to meet the needs on just this type of job, but since I don’t have rent or utility expenses, this amount is enough for me for now. I’ve been living in Germany for two years. Since my German level is not sufficient and there aren’t enough international companies where I can work in English, I haven’t been able to find a job that matches my education and skills.
What are the current working conditions like in your job?
The “Vorarbeiter” and office staff are very polite, and I get along well with them. Also, since I work alone, I find it kinda easy to do this job. However, once I finish my education or improve my German skills, I want to find another job. I think the biggest disadvantage of a cleaning job is doing the same work for days and months. After a while, you start feeling burned out because you’re not producing anything new or making any progress. While I work, I can listen to music or podcasts, but especially many cleaners working in private houses can’t do that because the homeowners would be disturbed. Under these conditions, I don’t find any job to be humane.
How do you think society and politicians view your work? Are you appreciated?
I think some parts of society and politicians want to see migrants working mostly in physically demanding jobs. Some sectors are still very conservative, and they are still behind when it comes to creating an international work environment.
Would you like to change something about your working conditions?
Some of the conditions I’d like to change at work are: sometimes they leave heavy trash for me to carry without considering how I’ll manage to carry it on my own. And when daily trash is mixed with deep cleaning waste, it can become very difficult for me to carry. I wish I could change that. Also, when I want to go on a long vacation (for example, a one-week vacation), they expect me to find someone to cover for me. Luckily, there are people around me who can work in my place, but I think this is something the company should take responsibility for. Additionally, it would be really helpful if people were better informed about cleanliness in shared spaces. This is because, often due to people’s carelessness, we encounter very unpleasant situations in places like toilets.
Soon it will be the 8th of March, the international day of feminist struggle. What role does it play for you and your work?
March 8th, International Feminist Struggle Day, is a historic day for us working women. On this day, I think it’s important for women to go on strike, both from a class struggle perspective and from a women’s struggle perspective. I believe that the male-dominated capitalist system will falter without us women and workers and will deepen its existing crises. For this reason, I will not go to work on that day and, in addition, I will be on strike in many areas such as domestic labor, sex, etc.