Tentative Agreement Reached on Gwangju Office of Education Public Service Workers' Collective Bargaining After 18 Months of Negotiations

Improved Working Conditions
Including Increased Working Days and New Leave Policies

The 2024 collective bargaining agreement between the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education and the union of public service workers reached a tentative agreement after a year and six months since negotiations began.

The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 4th that, since the first round of negotiations with the Gwangju Regional School Irregular Workers’ Solidarity Council on July 10 of last year, it has held 68 main and working-level negotiation sessions and 9 intensive negotiation sessions to produce a tentative agreement.

Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education.

This tentative agreement includes improvements to working conditions for educational public service employees and strengthened support for educational activities, such as increasing the number of working days for non-working positions during school vacations, improving training and attendance systems, and introducing workforce management measures to enhance on-site stability.

The number of working days for six non-working positions during school vacations will be increased to a maximum of 323 days. Standalone kindergartens and schools with three meal services will transition to a regular work system. This work system reflects the characteristics of each position and the operational conditions of each school.

Five days of self-directed training will be newly introduced for regular educational public service employees. In addition, three days of “childcare leave” will be newly implemented for all positions. The leave system has also been expanded to include five days of study leave, 60 days of paid sick leave, and five to twenty days of retirement preparation leave.

The agreement also includes improvements to family allowances, regular bonuses, and the treatment of fixed-term and part-time workers. For essential areas such as meal services, the parties agreed to continue discussions on substitute workforce management and employment stability measures.

The city office of education stated that, after completing internal procedures between labor and management and finalizing the agreement, it plans to provide support to ensure the agreement is stably established in the field.