The six-foot-long golden toilet brush was left for the prime minister at the gates of The Lodge in Deakin on Wednesday, a present from the Parliament House cleaners who say they haven't had a pay rise in four years.

Its delivery on International Cleaners Day comes after multiple strikes failed to break the wages deadlock between the union and the Parliament House cleaning contractor, Limro Cleaning Services.

Workers have long complained of increasing workloads amid staff cuts and heightened use of Parliament's 4700 rooms.

And while the Mr Turnbull won't actually be able to scrub the throne with the giant toilet brush, cleaning union United Voice's ACT branch secretary Lyndal Ryan said she was hoping his government would clean up its act when it came to the treatment of Parliament's 40 cleaners.

"If he can't fix 40 low-paid workers' wages, why would we believe he would do anything else for the rest of the working community," Ms Ryan said.

The stoush stems from the Abbott government's 2012 repeal of the Commonwealth cleaning services guidelines as part of its war on red tape.

The union said the guidelines would have seen cleaners receive "modest" pay rises over the past few years. Instead, cleaners' wages had stagnated as rents and rates had risen in Canberra.

"We've been calling, calling, calling on the government to restore those guidelines and reintroduce fairness and it's fallen on deaf ears," Ms Ryan said.

"It's very distressing for the workers that they underestimate how devalued these people feel whilst they see everyone else's wages go up, when they feel the increased cost of living, when they hear politicians saying how much they care about the community and how they want to create good jobs then they do this."

Among those who have received the dubious honour in past years are dodgy contractors and employers who've ripped their staff off, Ms Ryan said.

The union said the only way for Mr Turnbull to be rid of the accolade was to commit to improving conditions and wages for the cleaners of Parliament House.

"Certainly we'd be pleased to pass this award onto someone more deserving because you will have actually proved you do care," Ms Ryan said.