The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is taking the Detroit Public Schools to court in an effort to stop them from privatizing facilities operations. Privatizing facilities operations would mean that current employees would have to seek employment with the private employers, many of them with Sodexo. Sodexo has been accused of human rights violations and union busting. The school said that they had looked into the issues with Sodexo, but felt that they were addressing them responsibly. AFSCME said that they were going to fight the move, and that if Sodexo was hired, the workers would be unionized. The plan would save the school district an estimated $75 million.
See "Union says it will fight Sodexo's deal to take over DPS building services", Chastity Pratt Dawsey, Detroit Free Press, January 27, 2011