Korea’s Health and Medical Union begins strike, causing service disruptions

On July 13. the first day of the general strike by the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union, patient clothes are placed on the bed of an empty general ward at Pusan National University Hospital in Busan. Pusan National University Hospital discharged most of the patients the previous day as it was expected that it would be difficult to manage patients due to the strike. [Photo by Yonhap]

The Korean Health and Medical Worker’s Union (KHMWU) affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) embarked on an indefinite general strike on Thursday, causing huge confusion at medical facilities across the country.

According to the KHMWU, more than 45,000 of its 85,000 members participated in the strike, which began Thursday at 7 a.m. A total of 145 medical centers nationwide, including 20 upper class general hospitals, joined the strike.

More than 17,000 members gathered for the rally in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, despite heavy rain. It is the first major strike by healthcare workers in 19 years since the one sparked by the medical privatization controversy in 2004.

“The government has not fulfilled its promise to expand manpower and public healthcare for two years,” the KHMWU said. “If the employers and the government do not come up with a practical solution, we will continue the strike indefinitely.”

In response, Park Min-soo, second vice minister of health and welfare, said, “If necessary, we will consider issuing a return-to-work order.” The victims of the strike are, in fact, patients. Hospitalization and surgeries were canceled one after another. Emergency rooms at several high-level hospitals even asked the Emergency Dispatching and Operations Command Center to refrain from transferring patients, citing a lack of staff to support follow-up care.

In the meantime, the tower crane workers’ union affiliated with the KCTU demanded a 22 percent wage increase in its wage negotiations with the management this year while the entire country is suffering from the summer strike. The management sees that the unreasonable demand was made as a backlash against the ban on monthly fees. The union called for a monthly wage increase to 6.3 million won for a 40-hour workweek for next year in its negotiations with the bargaining group representing the tower crane management.

Tower crane drivers who are members of the union are slated to receive 5.17 million won per month from July this year as a result of last year’s wage agreement. However, they are asking for 1.3 million won more than this year. In the past four years, the union has demanded an average annual increase of 7.2 percent, while the actual increase was 4.7 percent. This year’s demand is more than five times the recent increase.