Kim Dong-yeon "Labor-Management Agreement Reached at Gyeonggi Medical Center... Efforts for Residents' Health Rights"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed gratitude for the labor-management agreement reached after long negotiations by the unions of six hospitals under the Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center (Suwon, Uijeongbu, Paju, Icheon, Anseong, Pocheon) and urged further efforts to protect the health rights of the residents.

On the 1st, through his social media (SNS), Governor Kim said, "I extend my thanks to the labor and management and related parties who stayed up all night to join hands," adding, "This agreement marks the beginning of creating a better public healthcare system in Gyeonggi Province. Our united goal is to safeguard the health rights of our residents."

Earlier, the unions of the six hospitals under Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Medical Center agreed on three items, including changes to the management evaluation method, at 1:10 a.m. that day. Subsequently, at 4:40 a.m., the Gyeonggi Medical Center and the unions reached an agreement. Accordingly, the general strike by the hospital unions of the Gyeonggi Medical Center, which was scheduled for 7 a.m. on the 1st, was also withdrawn.

The hospital unions (with 1,271 members) had announced a general strike on the 24th of last month, demanding increases in 14 types of allowances including the head nurse position allowance, exclusion from management evaluation, and additional staffing. The Gyeonggi Medical Center had received the lowest grade in the management evaluation conducted by the province this year, which caused difficulties in expanding personnel and securing project budgets.

With the agreement between Gyeonggi Province and the unions on this day, the profitability-focused management evaluation unfavorable to the Gyeonggi Medical Center will be replaced by an operational evaluation by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The operational evaluation prioritizes public interest over profitability as the main evaluation criteria.

As the first phase by the end of this month, 39 additional staff including nurses, radiologists, and nursing assistants will be hired. In the second phase, if the bed occupancy rate reaches 60-70% per hospital, further increases in nurses and nursing assistants will be pursued.

Additionally, a stepwise promotion of ranks will be implemented, with 50% by the end of this year, 75% in the first half of next year, and 100% by the end of next year. Considering the difficulty in hiring nurses, the option of hiring regular employees as substitutes for those on leave will also be actively reviewed.

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