This Is Getting Serious: Four Go On Hunger Strike Over School Layoffs

Following the mass layoff of nearly 4,000 employees of the School District of Philadelphia, two parents and two members of the school staff have commenced a hunger strike. Specifically, they’re striking to lobby for the re-institution of the 1,200 lunchtime aides who were fired. Said parent Earlene Bly, whose daughter is a freshman at Roxborough High, she’ll only drink water until the aides are re-hired or her “body tells [her] otherwise.” They’ll camp outside of Tom Corbett’s Philadelphia office by day and sleep in a local church by night. The strike is being sponsored by the union–Unite Here–that represents many of the food service workers who have been affected by the cuts. [AP]