A new partnership through which workers in the cleaning industry will receive enhanced job security and improved pay and opportunities for career advancement was unveiled yesterday by the contract services company ISS Ireland and the State's largest trade union, SIPTU.

At the formal signing of the deal, SIPTU regional secretary, Mr Jack Nash, said: "It is not very often that employers go out and look for a partnership agreement like this with their employees, which gives them equal consideration as clients and the company. The programme should be a guiding light for employers in this sector as it shows that this does not have to be low-wage, low-skill."

ISS Ireland employs 2,500 people here and its programme aims to give its employees a broad range of skills through training and education funded by the company, broadening career prospects and opportunities for promotion. AS as the national standard - to an MBA will attract people to a career in the industry which is notorious for its high turnover of employees.

Company director Mr David Healy said Ireland's economic boom with its labour shortages made it difficult to attract people to the industry. "We want to keep and motivate high quality staff and invest in them for the future as we reach our targets of having 30 per cent of staff full-time by the year 2002."

ISS Ireland has an annual turnover of £14 million (€17.78 million) employing 10 per cent of Ireland's cleaners and currently holds several major contracts including Irish Rail, Irish Biscuits and Dell computers as well as being the number one provider of contract services in the healthcare sector. Mr Healy said: " The agreement we have with SIPTU is ground-breaking within the contract services industry, and indeed there are very few of its kind elsewhere. We hope to work together with SIPTU to improve the image, practice and prospects of cleaning in Ireland."

ISS Group is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and employs 195,000 people in 32 countries.