Cleaner

A cleaner is a type of industrial or domestic worker who cleans homes or offices for payment. Unlike other servants, their primary task is cleaning. Cleaners may specialise in cleaning particular things or places, such as window cleaners. Cleaners often work when the people who otherwise occupy the space are not around. They may clean offices at night or houses during the workday.

The 2000 film Bread and Roses by British director Ken Loach depicted the struggle of cleaners in Los Angeles, California to fight for better pay and working conditions, and the right to join a union. In an interview with the BBC in 2001, Loach stated that thousands of cleaners from around 30 countries have since contacted him with tales similar to the one told in the film.