“Severe” Teachers’ Strike Punishment

The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (MOE) announced yesterday that it would inflict severe punishment, including a compulsory transfer as well as an official reprimand or administrative measure, on the 2,286 teachers of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU), who went on strike by taking their annual leaves all together last November.

Kim Shin-il, deputy prime minister and minister of education, said through a letter addressed to teachers nationwide on the subject of punishment for the KTU teachers, “We imposed rigorous punishment on a total of 2,200 KTU teachers who participated in the illegitimate group action despite the continued requests made by the educational authority. We will also promptly complete the punishment procedure on the teachers whose disciplinary measures have not finished.”

Kim also said, “Educational workers’ organizations have an opportunity to present opinions through negotiations and discussions. It won’t be acceptable to push forward their opinions by taking unlawful group actions.”

According to the Ministry of Education (MOE)’s analysis on the 16 municipal and regional educational offices’ punishment, a total of 1,850 teachers who had been on an annual leave strike three times or less since 2000 were given an administrative measure (caution: 1,083, collective warning: 419, written warning: 348); 263 teachers out of 436 who had joined four times or more were given light disciplinary punishment, including wage reduction or official reprimand.

The MOE is planning to hold a disciplinary committee meeting to determine punishment on a total of 173 teachers who have not been punished yet out of those who were participants in the strike four times or more. A punitive wage cut, the most severe punishment of all the light disciplinary measures, was imposed on five teachers; an official reprimand restricting promotions for six months was given to 132 teachers; an unwritten warning recorded on personnel cards given to 66.

Those who are given a salary cut or warning will find it difficult to be promoted to vice-principal or principal, since they cannot receive “A” performance ratings. Among 436 teachers to be punished, those who received an unwritten warning or a more severe punishment will be forced to transfer to another school in March or September.

Most municipal and regional educational offices have internal personnel guidelines that force to transfer teachers given an unwritten warning or a more severe disciplinary action, irrespective of four-year workplace rotation policies and their own intentions.

It seems that the MOE took a strong measure against the KTU since the reformative educational policies, including the teacher evaluation system, could be nullified if the KTU’s illegitimate resistance was tolerated. Also, the MOE seemed to be conscious of the negative public opinion that the unlawful group action taken by the KTU was abetted by the lenient attitude of the MOE.

crystal@donga.com