'General Strike D-2' Health and Medical Workers' Union-Government Fail to Reach Agreement... Major Issues Remain Disputed (Update)

Minister Kwon Deok-cheol of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Issues Public Address... "Doing Our Best to Solve Problems Until the End"

Lee Chang-jun, Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is delivering opening remarks at the 12th Working-Level Meeting between the government and labor unions held on the 30th at the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union (KHMU), affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which has announced a general strike on the 2nd of next month, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare have engaged in government-labor consultations to coordinate opinions but have not reached an agreement. Differences remain on key issues such as expanding health and medical personnel and improving working conditions, and last-minute difficulties are expected.

On the 31st, Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol stated in a public address regarding the KHMU's general strike, "The government and the KHMU have engaged in sincere consultations, but so far have not reached an agreement," adding, "While there is consensus on the broad framework, there are differences in the specific levels of agreement each side envisions."

Minister Kwon explained, "Policies with little social disagreement and high acceptance in medical settings can be implemented in the short term, but issues requiring consultation with stakeholders within the medical community or for social acceptance cannot be decided solely through negotiations with the labor union."

He said, "The health and medical system includes not only health and medical workers but also various stakeholders such as the public who use health services and bear the financial burden, medical institutions, and other medical professionals not affiliated with labor unions," and added, "While we understand the concerns and difficulties of the KHMU, we ask for understanding of the government's position once again."

Relay negotiations the previous day... Government "Preparing for all possibilities to minimize inconvenience to the public"

The KHMU and the Ministry of Health and Welfare resumed the 12th government-labor consultation the previous day at the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The talks, which started at 3 p.m. the previous day, continued until 5 a.m. the following morning.

Minister Kwon emphasized, "We plan to secure the necessary budget and improve systems so that health and medical personnel dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients are properly compensated and can continue working," adding, "In particular, we will promptly consult with financial authorities to implement measures such as the life safety allowance and the maintenance and expansion of the dedicated nurse education system."

There is also a plan to continuously expand public healthcare. However, Minister Kwon stated, "The establishment and expansion of public hospitals involve sufficient consultation with local governments and significant financial resources. We propose forming a public healthcare expansion consultative body to develop concrete plans and promote inter-ministerial consultations."

The government expressed sympathy for the union's demands to improve working conditions for health and medical personnel but indicated that coordination on implementation plans is necessary. It explained that improving working conditions requires stakeholder consultations and legal amendments, making it difficult to specify immediate implementation or timing.

Minister Kwon said, "We agree on the basic direction regarding demands for improving working conditions such as staffing standards and nursing grade systems," but added, "Since this involves not only financial issues but also the supply and demand of medical personnel and the concentration of medical staff in tertiary hospitals, which affect the entire medical community, we plan to prepare alternatives and narrow differences."

Regarding the eradication of illegal medical practices, there is no disagreement, and the government will work with the medical community to improve hospital culture. Minister Kwon emphasized, "We are preparing improvement measures for the issue of surgical support personnel whose scope of work is somewhat unclear, and we plan to verify the feasibility of applying these measures in the field through public hearings."

The government intends to continue dialogue with the KHMU until the end to resolve the issue. Minister Kwon stated, "We will do our best to prevent any inconvenience to the public by preparing for all possibilities," adding, "In the event of a strike, we will maintain a 24-hour emergency medical system including emergency centers according to the emergency medical response plan, expand weekday medical hours at hospital-level medical institutions, and ensure the participation of public institutions not involved in the strike in emergency medical services without disruption."

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