JeonGyoJo "Union Audit Crossed the Line" vs Gyeongnam Office of Education "The Audited Teacher Was Just a Member of JeonGyoJo"

As conflicts continue between the Gyeongnam Office of Education and nutrition teachers over school site safety and health management, the Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) have criticized the provincial education office.

On the 18th, the unions held a press conference claiming that the provincial education office requested the attendance of the KTU Gyeongnam branch secretary-general for an audit related to the industrial safety and health practical competency and awareness improvement training conducted in May.

The Gyeongnam Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Gyeongnam Branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union are holding a press conference condemning the Gyeongnam Office of Education.
[Photo by Lee Seryeong]

“The two official letters sent to the KTU Gyeongnam branch president constitute suppression of legitimate union activities and unjust interference,” they said, adding, “Attempting a union audit without audit authority is a retaliatory audit.”

“The provincial education office also rejected the safety and health management system establishment forum proposed last month and said it would discuss the matter through a jury system,” they said. “This is an attempt to suppress stakeholders by force under the guise of formal rationality.”

A letter requesting cooperation for attendance at an audit received by the Secretary General of the Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union. [Provided by the Gyeongnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union]

The unions demanded an apology to the nutritionists, nutrition teachers, and school members hurt during the unilateral policy enforcement process and called for ▲ cessation of unjust interference in union activities and audit attempts ▲ punishment of those responsible for the union audit incident ▲ efforts to resolve issues through dialogue.

A provincial education office official explained, “Due to the impact of COVID-19, only online education for school field workers had been conducted until recently, when in-person training was held. The training was designed not to assign safety responsibilities but to improve understanding of the Industrial Safety and Health Act.”

“Although safety management responsibility is stipulated to lie with the school principal, since fieldwork is conducted with practitioners, it was judged that if practitioners understand the law well, it would help in situation assessment and response,” the official added.

Notice of Training for Enhancing Practical Competence and Awareness of Industrial Safety and Health by Gyeongnam Office of Education and Reference Materials. [Provided by Gyeongnam Office of Education]

They continued, “The attendance request was made to investigate whether there were any violations of laws or obligations such as prohibition of collective action by education office employees. Although the audit target belonged to the KTU, if the person is not an education office employee, there is no need to send an official letter to the school,” they emphasized.

Regarding the refusal to attend the forum, they said, “Since directions such as the operation of a dedicated team or the introduction of a jury system were not established, there was insufficient content to present at the forum,” and added, “We will make various efforts to resolve misunderstandings about work conflicts and responsibility assignment.”

Earlier, from May 23 to June 23, the provincial education office conducted regional training sessions to strengthen understanding of industrial safety and health tasks for about 3,000 people, including public school administrative directors, clerks, nutritionists, nutrition teachers, and local office field workers and staff. However, it was reported that only 12 out of a total of 567 nutritionists and nutrition teachers in the province attended up to the 7th session.

In response, Superintendent Park Jong-hoon ordered an audit to verify whether nutrition teachers engaged in collective and organized actions.

Nutrition teachers were understood to have not attended the training because it was conducted unilaterally without prior communication with them, and they felt that the education office was trying to shift the role of middle managers and safety and health responsibilities onto nutrition teachers.

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