'We're invisible and disposable': A bathroom cleaner calls for respect

Leo Alejandria worked as a bathroom cleaner in Vancouver for more than 20 years. He sees his job as a "respectable, decent and honest" one. But often, he feels "invisible and disposable."

He says some people who use public bathrooms lack the common courtesy and "hygienic orientation" to leave public bathrooms in good conditions.

Leo says you can't blame people for not always treating public bathrooms as if they are their own. But he has a message for people who use them, from someone whose workplace was the washroom.

"When a public washroom is cleaned, it's the janitor's duty to do it, to keep it clean. So try to have respect for the people, because cleaning a washroom is not that easy. You're exposed to germs and your health is somehow threatened because people have sickness and they leave mess behind and germs, unsanitary conditions and you have to fix it all the time. So respect is what is needed for the people cleaning washrooms."

Leo has just started a new job advocating for better treatment of cleaners by employers.