36 Seoul Schools Suspend Meals Due to Cook Strike... About 3.5% of Total

Care Classroom Operation Rate 98.7%
Number of Strike Participants 626
Jo Hee-yeon "Regret Over Strike Proceeding Without Considering Financial Conditions"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The number of schools in Seoul where meals were suspended due to strikes by school cafeteria cooks and nutritionists has been counted at 36.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 19th that among the 1,026 schools under its jurisdiction, about 3.5% did not provide meals. Meals were operating normally at the remaining 921 schools.

Among the schools where meals were suspended, 33 schools replaced meals with bread and beverages, and 3 schools required students to bring packed lunches.

Among the 557 schools operating care programs, only 8 participated in the strike, resulting in a 98.7% operation rate for care classrooms.

The number of strike participants was 626, accounting for about 3.8% of the total 16,530 education public service workers.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, expressed deep regret over the strike, stating, "It is very regrettable to proceed with the strike without considering the financial conditions of the education office, especially as social distancing has been raised to level 1.5 and the College Scholastic Ability Test is approaching."

The union’s demand to convert the entire education public service workers’ retirement pension to a defined benefit (DB) plan would require an additional 900 billion won over the next 20 years. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education previously proposed alternatives within the scope of educational finances but failed to reach an agreement.

Superintendent Cho said, "We will improve in a reasonable and gradual direction within the scope of sound financial management," and added, "We will strive to minimize the inconvenience caused by the strike."

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