It's true Jim that the pay is abysmal for cleaning in the public sector. My poor husband gets a measly £7.50 an hour. He works very awkward hours (2pm - 9pm) and has to go to two different sites. He often has to wipe excrement from the walls of the school toilets and mop up wee from the floor. It's a secondary school, and the students should know better, but he's too timid to complain. They're finding it hard to get cleaners who will stay. Any young folk only last a week.
However, he seems to adore the job, mainly because everyone loves him and he feels very secure there. But it could be seen as exploitation in a way...