Against the Privatization of School Cafeterias and Dismissals of Workers

On March 20 we went to a session of the local council to protest plans to privatize more school cafeterias in Warsaw. The city wants to privatize cafeterias in 66 schools this year, firing 190 kitchen staff. The kitchens would then be run by private companies who would employ people on much worse conditions.

ZSP and ZSP education workers oppose these plans and is organizing amongst the kitchen staff and parents. Besides the problems of the casualization of the kitchen work, we see that the privatization of the cafeterias lead to higher prices and aggravate already existing class differences. Last year, when 33 cafeterias were privatized in Warsaw, the cost of meals rose by at least 30%, making them unaffordable for some parents. The present average cost of meals makes the price of 20 meals equal to about 10% of the minimum wage.

The privatizations are just part of a series of attacks against education and education workers which include the liquidation of schools and various aspects of privatization and casualization of jobs in schools.

On March 30 we will hold a demo in defense of the work places and for decent conditions for all staff.