Daegu Teachers' Union Signs Collective Agreement with Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education ... Establishes Presence Within One Year of Launch

Having More Members Than Jeongyojo, Noted as the De Facto 'No.1 Union'

Daegu Superintendent of Education Kang Eun-hee is seen taking a commemorative photo after signing the collective bargaining agreement with Lee Bo-mi, Chairperson of the Daegu Teachers' Union, on the 24th.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] The Daegu Teachers' Labor Union, established in March last year, solidified its position as a teachers' union surpassing the existing Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (Jeon-gyo-jo) by signing a collective agreement with the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education after six months of practical negotiations.

On the afternoon of the 24th, Superintendent Kang Eun-hee and Lee Bo-mi, Chairperson of the Daegu Teachers' Union, agreed on a collective agreement focusing on improving educational conditions, enhancing teachers' working conditions and professionalism, and establishing teachers' rights, and signed the agreement.

This agreement was reached after the first meeting between key officials of the Metropolitan Office of Education and union executives on August 5, followed by eight rounds of practical negotiations and consultations.

The total number of elementary, middle, and high school teachers in Daegu is about 24,000. Among them, the Daegu Teachers' Union has about 2,000 members.

Until now, the Jeon-gyo-jo Daegu branch represented the teachers' union, with membership exceeding 2,000 until early last year, but it has now decreased to below 1,500. The Daegu Teachers' Union has effectively taken the position of the primary union.

The collective agreement includes 137 detailed articles covering issues for teachers' rights, ranging from major matters such as "No recourse shall be taken against teachers for accidents during educational activities unless caused by intentional or gross negligence" (Article 333, Clause 1) to specifics like "Efforts shall be made to upgrade the specifications of computers for teachers" (Article 46, Clause 9).

Chairperson Lee Bo-mi stated, "Since the collective agreement between the teachers' union and the Metropolitan Office of Education effectively lost its validity in early 2016 after being established in 2013, there was no mechanism to resolve conflicts between administrators and teachers at schools. I am pleased that this agreement provides a way to address difficulties in the school field."

Meanwhile, the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education and the Daegu Teachers' Union agreed to hold policy councils semiannually as a continuous communication channel, separate from collective bargaining.

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