Seoul School Irregular Workers Union Announces General Strike on 24th... Demands "Switch to Retirement Pension"

"Superintendent, Come Out and Solve It"

The Seoul School Irregular Workers Solidarity held a press conference on the 15th in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, announcing a hunger strike and a general strike of all job categories. (Photo by Gong Byung-sun)

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The Seoul-area school irregular workers' union announced on the 24th that it will begin an indefinite hunger strike and a general strike across all job categories on the 15th.

The Seoul School Irregular Workers Solidarity Conference (Seoul Hakbi Yeondae) held a press conference that day, demanding that the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education switch the retirement pension system to a defined benefit (DB) plan and improve treatment such as wage increases for irregular workers.

Lee Mi-seon, head of the Seoul branch of the National School Irregular Workers Union, said, "Ten years ago, we were forced to join the pension without proper guidance, and even new employees now cannot choose their pension plan according to their conviction," adding, "Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon must personally resolve this issue."

Seoul Hakbi Yeondae has been demanding the conversion of the retirement pension to the DB type. The DB plan pays retirement benefits based on the average wage of the last three months before retirement, whereas the defined contribution (DC) plan determines retirement benefits according to the performance of financial products. Since the Moon Jae-in administration significantly raised the minimum wage, retirement benefits for irregular workers enrolled in the DC plan have relatively decreased. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, about 77% of the 16,530 irregular school workers in Seoul are enrolled in the DC retirement pension plan.

Seoul Hakbi Yeondae stated, "Although a special committee was established in 2019 to improve the retirement pension system, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education keeps repeating that conversion is difficult due to high budget costs," and added, "Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon promised to improve the retirement pay system during his re-election campaign, but it has become an empty promise."

On the 15th, the Seoul Tuition Solidarity held a demonstration in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education demanding a meeting with Cho Hee-yeon, the Superintendent of Seoul Education. Representatives of the Tuition Solidarity raised their voices, saying, "You promised to listen during the election, but now you are ignoring us." (Photo by Gong Byung-seon)

Furthermore, Seoul Hakbi Yeondae criticized the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education for proposing negotiation plans that expand discrimination between regular and irregular workers. According to Seoul Hakbi Yeondae, the metropolitan and provincial offices of education proposed a 0.9% basic wage increase to irregular school workers. Seoul Hakbi Yeondae said, "Even the minimum wage, which was said to have the lowest increase in history, rose by 1.5%," adding, "We are demanding a basic wage increase at least equal to the minimum wage."

Seoul Hakbi Yeondae also claimed that discrimination between regular and irregular workers has expanded in welfare benefits. According to Seoul Hakbi Yeondae, for holiday leave pay, regular workers receive between 1.9 million and 3.9 million KRW annually, while irregular school workers receive only 1 million KRW per year. For regular bonuses, irregular school workers receive 900,000 KRW, whereas regular workers receive an average of about 2 million KRW. Seoul Hakbi Yeondae emphasized that based on Supreme Court rulings and public sector irregular worker regularization guidelines, there should be no discrimination in welfare benefits.

Seoul Hakbi Yeondae announced that if their demands are not accepted, they will launch a general strike across all job categories and an indefinite hunger strike starting on the 24th. However, they left room for negotiation, stating that if the superintendent personally intervenes to settle the negotiations, the general strike and hunger strike may not take place.

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