The New York City Department of Education has hired private contractors to clean as many as 133 city schools. The union representing New York City school custodial supervisors objects to this move, even though it would be temporary, until the end of June 2004. The city?s privatization effort is part of a widespread plan by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein to make changes in the school system. Robert J. Troeller, president of Local 891, which represents about 850 school custodian engineers criticized the move, saying that he feels private companies are less qualified than civil service workers to handle the job.
See "School Custodians Object as City Hires Private Firms", Elissa Gootman, The New York Times, September 25, 2003