Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Budget Committee Cuts Entire Budget for Kitchen Assistants

Jeonnam Provincial Council

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The personnel budget for newly recruiting kitchen assistants, which was cut by the Jeonnam Provincial Council’s Education Committee, was also fully cut by the Budget and Accounts Special Committee.

According to the Jeonnam Provincial Council on the 10th, the Budget and Accounts Special Committee passed the proposal to cut 520 million KRW from the Education Committee’s budget for newly recruiting kitchen assistants during the review of the “Jeollanam-do Education Special Account 2021 First Supplementary Budget Plan.”

In September last year, the Jeonnam Office of Education requested 520 million KRW in personnel expenses in the supplementary budget to newly recruit 53 kitchen assistants through labor-management negotiations with the Jeonnam branch of the School Meals Labor Union.

However, the Education Committee emphasized that this year’s Office of Education budget decreased by 227 billion KRW compared to last year due to a decline in local taxes and student numbers, that personnel expenses account for 64% of the total budget, and that the student population is expected to decrease by 9,964 by 2024. They argued that the budget should be spent on students rather than recruiting kitchen assistants, and thus cut the budget.

In response, the School Meals Labor Union strongly protested the personnel budget cut and initiated collective action holding banners and placards, leading to sharp conflicts with the Jeonnam Provincial Council.

Assemblyman Lee Kwang-il, who led the budget cut, stated, “This budget decision is a cut to new recruitment, not a cut to personnel expenses. However, the School Meals Labor Union treated the assembly members who stated that students are the core of the education budget as if they were criminals,” and added, “Approaching the issue as if the council is unnecessary as long as the Office of Education and labor-management reach an agreement by holding students hostage is wrong.”

Assemblyman Lee Min-jun said, “Although 2 billion KRW was allocated for recruiting kitchen assistants this year, 520 million KRW was reallocated from the 1 billion KRW budget intended to improve students’ basic academic skills, so the cut was inevitable,” and added, “If schools later need new kitchen assistants, it will not be too late to recruit them then.”

Meanwhile, with the supplementary budget plan passing the Jeonnam Provincial Council’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee, it is expected that the opposition from the School Meals Labor Union will intensify, drawing attention to future developments.

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