Non-Regular School Workers Announce 6-Day General Strike... Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education "Establishing Response System"

Maximizing Use of School Staff
Providing Substitutes During Meal Suspension
Informing Parents of Related Matters

Non-regular school workers (educational public officials) responsible for school meals and care services at elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide have declared a full-scale strike on the 6th. In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it will establish a response system at the headquarters, education support offices, and individual schools to prepare for the strike.

On the 3rd, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated in a press release, "We have prepared a ‘Strike Response Plan’ that includes phased response measures, job-specific response measures, and prevention of unfair labor practices," adding, "The headquarters, education support offices, and schools will operate strike response situation rooms to ensure that school educational activities can proceed normally."

The day before, the National School Non-Regular Workers' Union announced that wage negotiations with the Ministry of Education and the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education, which constitute the management side, had failed to reach an agreement, and thus they would proceed with the strike.

Yonhap News

To minimize the impact of the strike on educational activities, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will maximize the use of school staff in areas such as kindergarten and elementary care, and special education. In particular, to ensure the smooth operation of care classrooms, measures such as integrated operation using non-striking staff will be implemented. Additionally, the distribution of duties among school staff will be rearranged to prevent work gaps.

For school meals, which are difficult to substitute with staff, if meal service is suspended, simplified menus, bringing lunch boxes, or providing meal substitutes such as bread or milk will be offered.

Schools will independently establish strike response plans and guide parents to be sufficiently informed in advance about strike-related matters and cooperation requests through home correspondence.