As the privatization agenda moves forward and attacks teachers and students it’s sometimes forgotten how school support workers are affected. At least in Oakland, custodial workers have gone years without a raise and numerous positions have been outsourced. A key and often overlooked outsourced position is afterschool workers. Increasingly they have been expected to shoulder more teaching–without any of the benefits and protections of teachers–as teachers have been cut and overburdened. All this points to a basic tenet of labor: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
In that vein, this article looks at the current New York City school bus drivers’ strike. They have walked out to prevent their union from being busted as Mayor Bloomberg continues his offensive against school workers. The strike is placed in this context of the larger attack on public education and its workers while pointing out the negative effects on students, particularly on special needs
