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

Minister Kwon Deok-cheol's Public Address... "Serious Situation, Collective Actions Must Be Refrained"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[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 nationwide 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 yet to reach an agreement. Differences remain over key issues such as expanding healthcare personnel and improving working conditions, and difficulties are expected until the last moment.

On the 31st, Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol stated in a public address regarding the KHMU's planned 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, "Policy tasks with little social disagreement and high acceptance in medical settings can be implemented in the short term, but matters requiring consultation with stakeholders within the medical community or for social acceptance cannot be decided solely through negotiations with the labor union."

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

Minister Kwon requested restraint from striking amid the ongoing fourth wave of COVID-19. He emphasized, "Now is the time for both healthcare workers and the government to focus on responding to the fourth wave of COVID-19," and urged, "In this serious situation of the fourth wave, we ask that collective actions such as strikes be refrained from and that we resolve the current situation together through dialogue and consultation."

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

The KHMU and the Ministry of Health and Welfare resumed the 12th government-labor consultation the previous day at the Medical Institution Evaluation and Certification Institute in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The talks, which began at 3 p.m. the previous day, continued for about 14 hours until 5 a.m. the following day.

Minister Kwon stated, "We plan to secure the necessary budget and improve systems so that healthcare workers dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients are properly compensated and can continue working," adding, "In particular, we will promptly consult with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to implement measures such as the Life Safety Allowance and the maintenance and expansion of the dedicated nurse education system."

There are also plans to continuously expand public healthcare. However, Minister Kwon said, "The establishment and expansion of public hospitals involve sufficient consultation with local governments and substantial financial resources. We propose forming a public healthcare expansion consultative body to develop specific plans and to promote consultations with related ministries."

The government expressed sympathy for the union's demands to improve healthcare workers' working conditions but stated that coordination on implementation methods 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 with the basic direction of demands to improve working conditions for healthcare personnel, such as improving staffing standards and the nursing grade system," 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 plans to improve hospital culture together with the medical community. Minister Kwon emphasized, "We are preparing improvement measures for the issue of operating room support personnel whose scope of work is somewhat unclear, and we plan to verify the applicability in the field through public hearings."

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 held on the 30th at the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Consensus reached on 17 of 22 detailed tasks... 5 to be renegotiated soon

Lee Chang-jun, Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Through marathon discussions the previous day, consensus was reached on 17 of the 22 detailed tasks, and it was agreed to conduct additional discussions on 5 tasks after internal review either this afternoon or tomorrow, concluding the session."

He continued, "There remain various disagreements on issues such as COVID-19 frontline staffing standards, recruitment methods and compensation for infectious disease-dedicated hospitals, nursing staffing standards, and the confirmation of regions for public hospital expansion," adding, "It may not be easy to resolve all five tasks, but the government fully understands the various difficulties faced in medical settings and will do its best to prepare alternatives with sincerity to reach an agreement."

With two days remaining before the general strike, the government intends to continue dialogue with the KHMU to resolve issues until the last moment. In the event of a strike, emergency medical services such as emergency centers will maintain a 24-hour emergency treatment system, and plans are in place to expand weekday treatment hours at hospital-level medical institutions and to ensure emergency treatment participation by public institutions not involved in the strike.

Meanwhile, the KHMU filed simultaneous dispute adjustment requests on the 17th of last month for 124 branches (136 medical institutions). The policy director estimated, "Among 56,000 union members at 136 medical institutions, about 30% excluding essential duties such as intensive care units and emergency rooms are expected to participate in the strike," adding, "Given the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, we plan to support staffing operations to minimize gaps in wards treating COVID-19 patients."

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