Janitors work hard!

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Home : 2003 : January : 4

Janitors work hard!
By Suzie

Hi,

Hope someone reads this. I'm in Australia and here we call janitors cleaners. Both our countries face the SAME dilemmas many seas apart. Everything from low pay to low resources in the Private system to cleaners!

YOU
MUST treat cleaners with repect and try HARD to get along very well with them from the outset. I get along so well with mine, we're always talking and laughing together.
Let me start by saying that I think our job is to TEACH not clean BUT it's just the way it is now I reckon! Here, my 2 year old classroom gets vaccuumed twice a week. At the end of every term, we have to scrub

the desks and chairs and in my state, it's the teachers who constantly wipe over desks. We don't take out the garbage.

Cleaners get around 7 mins to clean each room. After that time they must move on or it's their OWN time. If they are sick or unwell for even 2 hours of their day, they MUST have a medical certificate. Ridiculous. They work a split shift, 4am- 8.30am then again 2pm-6pm (or later!!)They work hard, are often older citizens and are underpaid. They put up with some BAD conditions. HOW DO I KNOW ALL THIS?! My Dad is a cleaner--- fit, trim but nearly 60 years old. He's never complained a day in his job but knows that the company pushes him too far, it is unfair.

Cleaners therefore should not have to put up with pushy teachers or lazy, stubborn ones and people like Kay need to give them a break. Cleaners HATE you to complain to the Principal. We don't like it when a parent does it do we.

Please care for your cleaners!