Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 9th July 2026 Issue no. 1218
Your industry news - first
The original and best - for over 20 years!
We strongly recommend viewing Cleanzine full size in your web browser. Click our masthead above to visit our website version.
Essential workers rally in Dublin and Paris for pro-worker procurement reform
Cleaners, security guards and food service workers protested in Paris and Dublin last week to demand better working conditions, higher wages and genuine collective bargaining, as the EU overhauls the public procurement rules governing €2,000 billion in annual spending across Europe.
The protest in Dublin took place as Ireland took over the presidency of the Council of the EU, which will place it at the helm of the reform negotiations. In Paris, workers rallied in front of the Finance Ministry as France's European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, responsible for the reform of EU public procurement, is set to release his draft ‘Public Procurement Act’ after the Summer.
The EU procurement rules determine the working conditions of millions of workers who are employed by private companies but carry out public contracts. Since the last reform in 2014, the rules have led to a race to the bottom as the lowest price decides which company gets a public contract in more than half of all tenders across the EU. For workers, this has meant high workloads, understaffing and job insecurity.
Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa's regional secretary, who spoke at the rally in Paris, said:
"To Stéphane Séjourné and Europe's political leaders, we say that we want every worker on a public contract to be covered by a collective agreement - for dignity at work, for a real say in the workplace, for more pay in workers' pockets".
The demonstration in Paris was organised by UNI Europa, the European federation of service sector trade unions, and the French trade union federations CFDT Services, CFTC-CSFV, CGT-Commerce and FO-FEETS. A delegation of workers from Luxembourg joined their French colleagues for the demonstration.
Sandrine Villalon, National Secretary at CFDT Services, said: "We do not want low-paid workers with few rights. Essential workers deserve essential recognition - and for that, we need a social reform of the tendering system."
Stéphane Boudon, national secretary in charge of services for the CFTC-CSFV, said:
"The revision of the Public Procurement Directive must guarantee that the thousands of workers in the catering, cleaning and security sectors are paid what they are truly worth for the essential work they carry out - a wage that allows them to live and support their families with dignity. And it must put an end once and for all to the singular focus on financial considerations when awarding contracts."
Amar Lagha, general secretary of the CGT Commerce & Services Federation, stressed the need for: “Transparency regarding the use of public funds and the corresponding benefits - in terms of employment and working conditions - linked to the sums paid to companies. The workers in our sectors, such as catering and airport security, are suffering from this race to the bottom on social and wage standards. Public procurement must provide workers with statutory and wage guarantees that enable them to meet their basic needs."
Zaïnil Nizaraly, general secretary of FEETS-FO, said:
"The cleaning and private security sectors are subject to market forces. It is therefore the employees who are the victims of the drive for the lowest cost. Changing the criteria in calls for tenders is essential to protect employees in these sectors."
The rally in Dublin organised by Irish union SIPTU and UNI Europa saw hundreds of cleaners and security guards meet at the Office of Government Procurement.
Adrian Kane, SIPTU Services divisional organiser, said: "SIPTU is calling on the Government to ensure Ireland's first National Public Procurement Strategy, currently being developed by the Office of Government Procurement, includes strong protections for workers and puts collective bargaining and fair employment standards at the heart of how public contracts are awarded."
Speaking prior to the event, Ed Kenny, SIPTU sector organiser, said:
"Our rally on 1st July will send a clear message to the Government that public money must be used to support decent employment standards, quality services and responsible employers. The development of the National Public Procurement Strategy is an opportunity to get this right."
These demonstrations are part of UNI Europa's campaign ‘No public procurement without a collective agreement’. This initiative has brought together trade unions, employers, academics and a broad section of European civil society around the fundamental principle that public money must serve the public interest.
In October 2024, more than 1,000 workers from nine countries gathered in Brussels to demand higher wages and better working conditions through a reform of public procurement. A few months earlier, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had announced that the Commission would rewrite the rules.
Research by UNI Europa highlights that half of all public tenders in the EU are awarded solely based on the lowest price. In an open letter, more than 100 world-renowned economists, including Thomas Piketty and Isabella Weber, criticised "the dominant focus on the lowest price in tendering procedures", supporting workers' demands for a reform that "strengthens collective bargaining" for living wages and puts an end to social dumping.
9th July 2026