School Non-Regular Workers' General Strike on the 31st, Jeonnam Office of Education's Full-Scale Response

The School Irregular Workers Solidarity Conference has declared a general strike for the new semester starting on the 31st, raising concerns that disruptions to school meals will recur at frontline schools.

According to the Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education on the 29th, the Ministry of Education and 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education have been conducting weekly collective wage negotiations with the nationwide School Irregular Workers Solidarity Conference since September last year.

The School Irregular Workers Solidarity Conference has declared a general strike for the new semester starting on the 31st, raising concerns that meal service disruptions will recur at frontline schools.

The Solidarity Conference is demanding ▲ the formation of a labor-management consultative body for wage system reform ▲ an increase in longevity allowance ▲ a basic salary increase of 55,840 won, and the application of customized welfare benefits equally to public officials.

However, due to significant differences in positions between the Ministry of Education, metropolitan and provincial offices of education, and the school irregular workers' union regarding the demands, a general strike has become unavoidable, and another major disruption is expected.

The Provincial Office of Education plans to establish a response system to minimize confusion at schools related to the general strike.

First, through meetings with vulnerable sector departments, they have established a response manual for the educational public service workers' strike and informed frontline schools on the 17th.

Additionally, during the strike period, the Provincial Office of Education will operate a situation room to continuously monitor the operation status of school meals, after-school care classrooms, and other activities at various schools to prevent any gaps in educational activities.

In particular, if cafeteria workers participate in the strike, considering the scale of participation, plans include reducing menus, providing simple meals, or offering alternative foods such as rice cakes, agricultural products, and bread.

By readjusting staff duties, they aim to minimize confusion at schools, and support for special needs students and operation of after-school care classrooms will utilize internal school personnel as much as possible to ensure smooth academic operations.

If internal personnel are insufficient, they will also explore cooperation with other institutions, focusing all efforts on guaranteeing students' right to learn.

Han Jong-deok, Director of Labor-Management Policy, stated, “The strike is expected to disrupt school educational activities and academic operations. We will do our utmost to minimize disruptions to students' educational activities and academic operations in the new semester by employing all possible measures and ensure that parents do not suffer any damage.”