Refusal to Prepare Ingredients Such as Cutting Seaweed and Peeling Eggs
Controversy as "Seaweed Soup Without Seaweed" Served to Students
Growing Concerns Among Students and Parents
In Daejeon, conflicts over treatment improvement issues between school meal cooks and the city education office and schools have escalated, leading to the suspension of school meals at Geulkkot Middle School following Dunsan Girls' High School.
On the 14th, according to the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education and the Daejeon branch of the National School Irregular Workers' Union (hereafter the union), Geulkkot Middle School in Jung-gu also decided to provide substitute meals for lunch starting that day.
The school reportedly sent a notice to parents stating that "due to the absence of cooks, it is difficult to provide normal school meals, so substitute meals will be provided." The school's eight meal cooks all left work without washing trays and other utensils after serving meals on the 11th. They began a collective sick leave strike for 15 days from that day until the 2nd of next month.
Initially, from the beginning of this month, they also refused to prepare ingredients such as cutting seaweed and peeling eggs. During this process, on the 7th, a controversy arose when "seaweed soup without seaweed" was served to students.
Earlier, at Dunsan Girls' High School in Seo-gu, conflicts between the union and the school over prohibitions on staff serving meals, additional use of utensils, and refusal to prepare ingredients led to the suspension of dinner meals starting from the 2nd.
In Daejeon, the union, which has been negotiating with the city education office by job category while complaining about the excessive workload of cooks, notified of a strike starting February 17. The union reportedly demands measures for the joint health and labor safety of meal cooks, including refusal to exceed twice weekly fried foods (jeon, grilled, fried), use of cold noodle bowls, boiling bones (pigs' feet, beef bones), handling uncut or unprocessed ingredients, inspecting trays before serving, and sterilizing utensils by hot water immersion.
Meanwhile, concerns among students and parents are growing. Some parents held a "union condemnation protest" in front of schools that suspended meals. On local mom cafes and other online communities, comments expressing dissatisfaction from parents continue, with the tone becoming increasingly harsh.
The student council of Dunsan Girls' High School, on the 10th, posted "Dunsan Girls' High School Student Council Opinions on Changes to Lunch Operation and Suspension of Dinner" on the cafeteria and main school entrances, stating that while they do not oppose the lawful struggle related to improving cooks' working conditions, they urge stable meal provision and respect for students' health rights. The union maintains that their strike is legal.
A city education office official stated, "We are discussing measures such as increasing the budget to prepare substitute meals considering nutrition, and separately pursuing meetings with the union regarding negotiations by job category."
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