Seoul National University Hospital Labor and Management Reach Agreement on Wage and Working Conditions... Strike Ends After One Week

As the labor-management negotiations at Seoul National University Hospital were concluded, the union will end the strike after one week.

Kim Young-tae, Director of Seoul National University Hospital (left), and Yoon Tae-seok, President of the Seoul National University Hospital Branch of the Medical Solidarity Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Public Transport Workers' Union, are posing for a commemorative photo at the 2023 preliminary collective agreement signing ceremony.
[Photo by Seoul National University Hospital]

On the 17th at 8 p.m., Seoul National University Hospital announced that it reached an agreement with the labor union on the '2023 Wage and Collective Agreement (hereinafter referred to as Wage and Collective Agreement)' and held a preliminary signing ceremony in the first conference room of the Korean Medical Association.

The labor and management agreed on ▲wage increase (in compliance with government guidelines) ▲improvement of working conditions ▲staff reinforcement ▲efforts to maintain medical publicness.

Thus, the labor and management of Seoul National University Hospital concluded this year's wage and collective agreement after about 54 rounds of negotiations over more than three months, starting with the initial meeting on July 11.

A representative of Seoul National University Hospital stated, "With the agreement reached, the hospital will promptly normalize operations and devote itself to its responsibilities as a national central hospital through mutual cooperation between labor and management."

Earlier, about 3,800 members of the Seoul National University Hospital branch of the Medical Solidarity Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Public Transport Union went on an indefinite general strike starting at 10 a.m. on the 11th, demanding improved treatment and restoration of public healthcare. This followed a strike approval vote conducted among union members from the 22nd to the 26th of last month, in which 95.9% voted in favor of the strike.

At that time, the union pushed for the strike in opposition to the hospital management's decision to grant additional wage increases only to high-salary doctors. The management decided to pay 27.1 billion KRW in medical allowances, including the increase, to 469 doctors, and 43.5 billion KRW in performance bonuses under the name of 'medical contribution allowance.'

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