National Union of Non-regular School Workers
Overview
The National Union of Non-regular School Workers (abbreviated as National Non-regular School Workers' Union) is a nationwide labor union established to protect the rights and improve the treatment of non-regular workers employed in elementary, middle, high, and special schools in South Korea. Organization began in the early 2000s as issues of poor working conditions and discrimination against non-regular school workers were raised in earnest. It has since grown into a large-scale labor union with branches in all 17 cities and provinces nationwide and approximately 50,000 members. Key activities include collective bargaining and struggles for wage increases, job security, expanded social insurance coverage, and strengthening the public nature of education, as well as policy proposals.
Main Content
Background and History of Establishment
Non-regular school workers consist of various occupations, including cafeteria cooks, teaching assistants, science lab assistants, librarians, child care specialists, cleaners, and security guards. From the late 1990s, non-regular employment in educational settings increased rapidly, but these workers faced serious problems such as low wages, unstable employment, exclusion from social insurance, and discriminatory treatment. In the early 2000s, non-regular school workers across the country began voluntarily forming regional labor unions. By around 2005, the need for a nationwide organization emerged, and the National Union of Non-regular School Workers was officially launched in 2006. Initially, the union was mainly composed of cafeteria cooks and teaching assistants, but later expanded to include various occupations.
Key Demands and Struggles
The core demands of the National Union of Non-regular School Workers can be summarized into three main points. First, wage increases and compliance with the minimum wage. Non-regular school workers have received significantly lower wages compared to regular workers performing the same tasks, and cafeteria cooks and cleaners in particular have worked long hours at near-minimum wage levels. Second, job security and conversion to open-ended contracts. Due to the nature of non-regular employment, contract renewals are uncertain and workers are vulnerable to dismissal at the discretion of school principals, so the union has demanded conversion to open-ended contracts. Third, full application of social insurance and expansion of welfare. The union has demanded full coverage of social insurance, including health insurance, national pension, employment insurance, and industrial accident insurance, for members who have been excluded from these systems. To achieve these demands, the National Union of Non-regular School Workers has led several large-scale general strikes and rallies since the 2010s. Notably, in 2019 and 2020, through collective bargaining with the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council of Metropolitan and Provincial Superintendents of Education, they secured partial agreements on wage increases and job security.
Organizational Structure and Activities
The National Union of Non-regular School Workers is affiliated with the Korean Federation of Public, Transport, and Social Service Workers' Unions (Public Transport Union) under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). The organizational structure consists of a national headquarters, 17 city and provincial branches, and school-level chapters. Members span about ten occupations, including cafeteria cooks, teaching assistants, science lab assistants, librarians, child care specialists, cleaners, security guards, and special education assistants. Key activities include regular collective bargaining, wage negotiations, signing job security agreements, legal support, operating education and training programs, policy research and proposals, and lobbying the government and education offices. The union also actively engages in solidarity activities with civil society organizations to strengthen the public nature of education.
Major Achievements and Limitations
Major achievements of the National Union of Non-regular School Workers include: first, signing collective agreements with most city and provincial education offices nationwide since the mid-2010s, establishing a basic framework for wage increases and job security. Second, through negotiations with the Ministry of Education in 2019, securing agreements on guaranteeing the minimum wage for non-regular school workers and expanding conversion to open-ended contracts. Third, significantly increasing social insurance coverage, so that now most members are enrolled in health insurance and the national pension. However, limitations are also clear. The wage gap with regular workers remains substantial, and poor working conditions for cafeteria cooks and cleaners in particular have not improved. Furthermore, even after conversion to open-ended contracts, discrimination against regular workers (e.g., non-application of the seniority-based pay system, discrimination in bonuses) persists, and negotiations with education offices often face political and financial constraints.
Recent Trends
From 2024 to the present in 2025, the National Union of Non-regular School Workers has shown the following major trends. First, in the 2024 wage negotiations, the Ministry of Education and the Korean Council of Metropolitan and Provincial Superintendents of Education agreed to wage increases reflecting the inflation rate (approximately 5–6%), but the union demanded larger increases to close the gap with regular workers and conducted partial strikes in some regions. Second, discussions on reorganizing the management system for school accounting staff by the Ministry of Education in 2025 are ongoing. The government is considering a plan to unify the employer of non-regular school workers from school principals to education offices, which is expected to positively impact job security. Third, regarding the expansion of the child care specialist occupation, demand for child care specialists has surged due to the government's 'Neulbom School' policy, intensifying demands for improved treatment and conversion to regular positions. Fourth, in response to digital transformation and changes in work, the digitalization of school administrative tasks has expanded the scope of work for teaching assistants and science lab assistants, leading to demands for wage adjustments and job redesign. Fifth, in the first half of 2025, the 'Zero Non-regular School Workers Campaign' led by the National Union of Non-regular School Workers is spreading nationwide, with large-scale signature drives and rallies planned to aim for the regularization of all non-regular school worker occupations.
Related Topics
- [[Korean Confederation of Trade Unions]]
- [[Education Public Service Workers]]
- [[Non-regular Workers]]
- [[School Accounting Staff]]
- [[Korean Federation of Public, Transport, and Social Service Workers' Unions]]
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