Your Plan to remove Custodians from our schools is wrong!

Our custodians care about our schools and out children. Civil Service Custodians work hard to ensure our schools are clean and well maintained. They are a necessary part of the fabric of our educational community.

The public school system has tested private contractors before, and they have repeatedly failed. They always cost more and provide less. Private contractors chief concern is maximizing profits.

New York Citys scarce educational dollars should not be wasted on money-hungry corporations that care nothing about children. This new privatization scheme will expose our children to unnecessary dangers!

We urge you to STOP YOUR PRIVATIZATION PLANS NOW!

School Custodian Engineers put CHILDREN FIRST..Private Contractors put PROFIT FIRST.

LOCAL 891 UNION CUSTODIANS: A HISTORY OF SUCCESS

Local 891 engineers are civil servants who have operated NYC public schools for more than 100 years. We operate a unique system of custodial care, whereby we employ the cleaners, handypersons and firepersons (boiler operators). WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE to school principals, school community and the Department of Education. The 850 skilled men and women Custodian Engineers are an INTEGRAL PART TO THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY.

Custodian Engineers are public servants who are paid a salary. We are motivated by a desire to PERFORM WELL and to be rated highly by the schools principal. We use our budget to DELIVER AS MANY SERVICES AS POSSIBLE tot he children in our schools. And money NOT EXPENDED is FUNNELED BACK into the system to be used in the classroom where it will BENEFIT ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL CHILDREN.

Union Custodians have withstood the test of privatization in the past, proving WE DO THE JOB BETTER AND CHEAPEER. From 1995-1996, the Board of Education placed more than 120 schools under the management of private contractors. (Previously the buildings were cared for by Custodian Engineers.) Since then, more than 40 of those have reverted back to Custodian Engineers because the principals were unhappy with the level of services provided by contractors.

PRIVATIZATION COSTS THE DOE MORE, AND PROVIDES YOUR CHILDREN WITH LESS!!

The Department of Education plans to privatize custodial services throughout the City, beginning with Regions 3 and 8. The plan is to have OUT-OF-STATE CORPORATIONS perform ALL NON-EDUCATIONAL support services, such as custodial, maintenance and food. THIS PLAN PLACES OUR CHILDREN AT GREAT RISK!

PRIVATE CONTRACTORS ARE BUSINESSMEN IN FOR-PROFIT BUSINESS. They reduce services and minimize the funds expended in buildings in order to increase their profit.

THE SAFTY OF OUR CHILDREN should not be JEOPARDIZED to satisfy the profit motives of OUT-OF-STATE CORPORATIONS! It makes more sense to maintain the current, in-house system and use money generated from cost saving measures to BENEFIT the CHILDREN.

WHEN IT COMES TO CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUES such as the use of cleaning chemicals, boiler safety, A/C plant operations, and indoor air quality, SCHOOL CUSTODIAN ENGINEERS have an EXEMPLARY TRACK RECORD of RESPONSIVENESS and CARE, while PRIVATE INDUSTRY CONTRACTORS have NOT. Private contractors who currently manage several schools throughout the CITY OF NEW YORK have put STUDENTS and FACULTY at RISK since 1995.

PRIVATIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES could lead to a system of public education where nearly all administrative, teaching, and support services, as well as cultural functions, would be controlled by private companies. This would greatly reduce the role of PARENTS and COMMUNITY LEADERS.

AS DOE EMPLOYEES, CIVIL SERVICE CUSTODIAN ENGINEERS are FULLY INVESTIGATED by BOTH the CITY and the DEPARTMENT. The CLEANING staffs of CIVIL SERVANTS UNDERGO the SAME BACKGROUND CHECKS and HAVE IDS ISSUED BY THE DOE. Private contractors are NOT SUBJECT to ANY BACKGROUND CHECKS.

CUSTODIAN ENGINEERS AND THEIR FAMILIES are from the metropolitan area and most are NYC residents. We hire people from the communities we serve. The FOR-PROFIT contractors HIRE employees who are answerable to OUT-OF-STATE CORPORATE OFFICES.

LETS KEEP OUR JOBS WHERE THEY BELONG!

According to an analysis by the prestigious management-consulting firm of Deloitte & Touche, privatization does not yield cost savings but does result in a reduction of the quality and quantity of services.

CONTRACTORS & DOE WASTED $51 MILLION FROM 1998-2001

The Department of Educations OWN data shows it has wasted $51,521,193 by contracting out custodial services (NYC DOE Office of Financial Management Report Cost comparison by Local 891)

LOOK WHAT $51,521,193 CAN BUY!
More than 1,030 NEW Teachers
More than 858,686 UP-TO-DATE Textbooks
More than 64,482 NEW computers

CONTRACTORS UNDOCUMENTED SPENDING:
Private Contractors DO NOT document expenses to the DOE. They cut corners and spend as little as possible. They are in business to MAXIMIZE profits; it would benefit them to use unapproved labor. YOU DESERVE to know who is WORKING around YOUR CHILDREN!

CIVIL SERVANTS DOE-APPROVED SPENDING:
Civil Service Custodian Engineers payroll costs are DOCUMENTED and APPROVED by the DOE. Custodian Engineers would have to pay money from their OWN POCKET if they attempted to employ UNAPPROVED and DANGEROUS manpower like contractors can.

Their Plan to remove Custodians from our schools is wrong!

We urge you to STOP YOUR PRIVATIZATION PLANS NOW!

To show your support for local 891 and STOP PRIVATIZATION IN OUR SCHOOLS!