No. 151 / Apr 19, 2021
The Ajou University consumersโ cooperative, which has been providing a snack bar service to the university students for 24 years, has closed its business. On March 15, 2021, the chairman of the consumersโ cooperative announced that their enterprise had been abolished. This decision was made primarily due to the restrictions in face-to-face education because of COVID-19. Consequently, all other educational institutions, including the university, have shifted toward non-face-to-face classes, drastically reducing the floating population on campus.As a result, they experienced a severe business crisis, with sales dropping by more than 80% compared to the previous year. The university and consumersโ cooperative conducted wage negotiations and reduced working hours in an attempt to control the situation; however, they eventually decided that the financial crisis was too difficult to overcome. According to the student council, the snack bar will remain open until the end of the first semester, and further plans will be discussed continuously. Also, they said โWhat we can say for sure is that we will come up with a plan so that students can enjoy welfare benefits before the opening of the second semester.โ The consumersโ cooperative stated, โIt is with a heavy heart that we make this decision during such hard times.โ adding, โWe sincerely apologize to the employees of the cooperative who have lost their jobs, and to the students and faculty members who are greatly inconvenienced by our closure.โ
By Je Hee-su, AG Senior Editor
xsma@ajou.ac.kr
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