@1...if every job is subcontracted out who's gonna pay the taxes?

@3..the contractors pay less..the contracters have little to no benefits... workers use more public services like snap...etc.

@4: It has nothing to do with taxes, the complaint is about benefits for workers. I don't think you understand what a subcontractor is, or how contracting works.

Isn’t it kind of inherently a part-time job though? Picking students up and dropping them off just doesn’t take all day. What routes are they driving between 8:30 and 2:30?

@2 - Your city contracts with the company. The union drivers aren’t contractors.

a) there’s a ton of typos in this short letter. Hire a proof reader next time. E.g. “Despite being a multinational corporations with significant annual profits”

b) Seattle union members hate you and your movement after you tried and failed to get Jon Grant elected. Don’t pretend that you’re their ally

c) there’s nothing wrong with subcontracting. I don’t see you complaining about Sound Transit subcontracting to build its tunnels and stations ahead of schedule. Just get the school board to write the contract correctly, like Sound transit does.

And if you hate public private partnerships, then how are you going to build the public housing you keep saying you want? Where’s the proposal to build up a city owned housing workforce? Why aren’t you preparing for your revolution?

@9 How dare you question Social Justice!!

Sawant in a debate about rent control and her position does not is opposite of the majority of economists. The " the economists do not inderstand the science do not understand the data... they pull answers out of their hats". Then she went on to say all the small landlords she talks to agree Seattle should have rent control. She is really bad at getting her facts right.

I’m on the fence about unions. Historically they are great, creating better working conditions and wage leverage for workers. Currently they can feel like a monopoly on labor in the public sector with mixed results (at best) and too much wiggle room for waste and accountability issues.

These bus drivers probably get paid a pretty low wage. Is it on par with a taxi or Uber driver?

Also, Sawant, “billionaire shareholders” in a school bus company...please. Big yellow 1950’s looking buses don’t scream “billionaire”. Bad imagery. Try again.

"Corporations and the capitalist class rely on being able to divide workers, and force us into a race to the bottom. We must reject this despicable divide-and-conquer strategy."

Because that kind of language does nothing to divide public opinion, does it? Sheesh, she is tedious.

And she didn't drop the M-bomb (movement!) till the penultimate sentence. She's not on her A game today...

Perhaps the school administration should take back full control of the school transportation system and employ the drivers directly and provide for them as regular district employees; maintenance could still be outsourced. Another possibility would be to incorporate the drivers into King County Metro Transit.

At some point does The Stranger need to disclose the amount of column inches given to Sawant as a campaign donation? What do I need to do to get Dan et al to grant me some column space to advocate for whatever I want?

It’s been a while since I’ve read one of Kshama Sawant’s editorials, and wow, I had forgotten what a tedious writer she is. If you can’t be interesting, Councilmember, then please be brief.

Thank you for the editorial. I will look to help these workers.

Sad to see so many comments not want to see people in our city, one of the richest in the world, have basic benefits at their job. How easily they believe the propaganda they are fed.

Kshama claims to have been elected by "working people." I think it's just as likely that she was voted in by millionaires and billionaires who wanted to put Socialism in the most authoritarian, dogmatic, strident, unimaginative and hypocritical light. Kshama does that well.

She is so full of shit, and I have never regretted voting for someone as much as I regret voting for her. She is constantly spouting ill-conceived reactionary bullshit with no regard for logic or reality. As @7 says, this is inherently part-time seasonal work. It's not the basis for a decent living. They do get a decent wage for work that requires no prior experience. This is a position where someone with a high school diploma can get a starting wage of $18 an hour and a commercial driver's license that they can use to get a better position.

Sawant says these workers deserve better benefits, but then says the whole situation is the superintendent and school board's fault for hiring the company in the first place. Because terminating the contract is the real solution here? The school department should bear the brunt of this problem by hiring their own drivers and paying them more than First Student? And where is that money going to come from? In many cases it's bullshit to outsource work, but these are school bus drivers - not crossing guards or hallway monitors. It's a specialized service that can put kids in life or death situations. Does a large urban district have the money, personnel and expertise to be the best possible provider of this service?