Seoul National University Hospital Union's 2nd Strike Today: "Increase Staffing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The labor unions of Seoul National University Hospital and Boramae Hospital are entering a second strike, demanding the reinforcement of essential personnel.

The Seoul National University Hospital branch of the Public Transport Union Medical Solidarity announced that it will hold a send-off ceremony for the second strike at 10:30 a.m. in front of the main building of Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This comes two weeks after the first strike on the 10th.

The number of union members participating in the strike is 3,900, which is more than the 1,000 members who participated in the first strike. Essential maintenance tasks such as emergency rooms, intensive care units, and operating rooms will be maintained, while departments such as wards, administration, diagnostic testing, and patient transport will participate in the strike.

The union is demanding the withdrawal of the plan to reduce 35 nurses, the abolition of the job performance pay system, and the establishment of a comprehensive infectious disease countermeasure plan. Specifically, the union has requested that Seoul National University Hospital reinforce its staff by 127 people and Boramae Hospital by 163 people.

The union stated, "The regime's innovation guidelines order to reduce the personnel that should be increased and to worsen the working conditions that need improvement," emphasizing, "Since before and after COVID-19, the number of nurses in the integrated nursing care service ward at Boramae Hospital has not increased by even one, resignations continue, and nursing assistants are responsible for 42 patients each, making it impossible to properly ensure patient safety due to staff shortages."

Furthermore, the union argued that as a public hospital, Seoul National University Hospital should expand medical publicness. The union said, "From children to free medical care, the establishment of a comprehensive infectious disease countermeasure plan, abolition of the physician performance pay system, reduction of for-profit subsidiaries, protection of patient information, and preparation of climate crisis response measures are the minimum demands for medical publicness."

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