School Meal and Childcare Workers' General Strike... 244 Locations in Seoul 'No Meals' (Comprehensive)

Number of Participants in Strike: 1,757

Over 1,700 non-regular school workers went on a general strike on the 6th, resulting in about 200 schools in Seoul not providing regular meals but instead distributing substitutes such as bread and beverages. Most after-school care and extracurricular programs operated normally.

According to the "2024 Education Public Service Workers Union General Strike Situation Report" released by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the same day, a total of 1,757 education public service workers participated in the strike, of which 1,081 were cooks (practical workers). There were 48 workers related to care duties, 154 special education assistants, and 47 educare instructors.

Yonhap News

The number of participants in the general strike increased sharply this year. In 2022, 1,382 workers participated, accounting for 5.58% of all education public service workers, and last year, the number slightly decreased to 1,298 (5.24%). However, this year, participation rose by 35% (459 workers) compared to the previous year, with 7.27% of education public service workers joining the strike.

As non-regular school workers responsible for meals and care participated in the strike, there were some disruptions in meal services. Among 1,397 elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul, 1,153 schools, or 82.5%, operated school meals normally. However, 224 schools provided substitutes such as bread, 3 schools required students to bring their own lunch, and 17 schools did not provide meals due to reasons such as regular exams.

The care and after-school sectors, which had fewer strike participants, generally experienced no operational disruptions. In the case of elementary after-school care classrooms, all 565 schools in Seoul and all 11 special schools operated 100% normally. Among 293 kindergartens offering after-school programs, only one did not operate normally, showing a 99.65% operation rate.

The National School Non-Regular Workers Union, the National Education Public Service Workers Headquarters, and the National Women’s Union, collectively forming the National School Non-Regular Workers Solidarity Conference (Solidarity Conference), carried out a one-day general strike on this day. Since July, they have been conducting collective wage negotiations with the Ministry of Education and 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education, demanding improved working conditions, but no agreement was reached.