New York City education officials revealed plans to lay off nearly 500 school repair and maintenance workers and replace them with private contractors as a way of increasing productivity. Plans to privatize city services have come under attack by union officials. The city has released a report which found that the Department of Education could have $20 million more in repairs each year by switching to more private contracting work.
See "Education Dept. Plans Nearly 500 Job Cuts", Elissa Gootman, The New York Times, December 8, 2003