Income is a more immediate issue than COVID-19... "Prolonged school closures causing livelihood difficulties"

Nationwide School Irregular Workers' Union Forces Rally in Front of Cheongwadae Sarangchae

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-gi] As school closures have prolonged, non-regular workers facing financial difficulties have held rallies despite concerns about infection with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), urging the government to take measures.

The National School Non-Regular Workers' Union (hereinafter referred to as Hakbi Nojo) plans to hold a rally condemning discrimination against non-regular workers in schools in front of the Blue House Sarangchae on the afternoon of the 11th. The original plan was to proceed as part of the National School Non-Regular Workers' Solidarity Conference involving several unions, but the scale was reduced considering the risk of COVID-19 infection.

Non-regular workers working at schools include about 100 job types such as meal service workers, administrative assistants, and science assistants. Unlike regular teaching staff, they cannot receive salaries during school closures. Recently, 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education proposed measures to guarantee working days and pay salaries in advance, but Hakbi Nojo has opposed this, calling it a stopgap measure.

Kim Dong-in, Director of Legal Affairs at Hakbi Nojo, stated, "Three weeks have passed since the unpaid vacation ended, but this situation continues, causing a significant impact on livelihoods," and added, "Advance wage payments or early payment of annual leave allowances are only temporary measures. Compensation for closure days must be provided."

The National School Non-Regular Workers' Solidarity Conference, to which Hakbi Nojo belongs, also pointed out at a press conference on the 9th, "The 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education do not use a single won of the 290 billion won allocated in the supplementary budget for the livelihood measures of school non-regular workers."

Meanwhile, some non-regular workers complain of a double burden of excessive workload and the risk of COVID-19 infection. Choi Eun-hee (46), who works as a care specialist at an elementary school in Gyeonggi-do, said that the existing care service has expanded to emergency care service, increasing the time spent with students. She also bears the responsibility for the children's disinfection. Choi lamented, "Disinfection is not done frequently, and masks are prepared individually." She added, "The education authorities only demand sacrifices from care specialists."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.