2023-07-12 14:08:00
Intern Reporter Lee Jung-sook (graduated from the Department of Media Communication, Chung-Ang University)
At a large hospital in downtown Seoul on the 12th, the day before the KCTU health and medical union strike, nurses move patients’ beds and pass by signs encouraging a ‘7/13 general strike’. The Ministry of Health and Welfare was concerned that hospitalization might be disrupted at some hospitals during the two days of the strike. /yunhap news
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ health and medical unions will strike for two days from the 13th. 45,000 out of 64,000 union members, including nurses, said they would participate. The operating room, emergency room, and intensive care unit return to work because essential personnel remain, but inpatient rooms are expected to suffer operational disruptions due to lack of nurses. On the 12th, some hospitals with many health and medical union members canceled surgeries and discharged patients from hospital rooms. An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “During the two days of the strike, there may be disruptions in hospitalization at some hospitals.”
It has been 19 years since 2004 when the health and medical unions insisted on blocking the privatization of healthcare. Unions are demanding more nurses, more medical schools, and more public health care. Wage negotiations between hospitals and individual unions are also ongoing.
The hospitals participating in the strike include 29 private university hospitals, 12 national university hospitals, and 12 public hospitals. Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul Asan Medical Center, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Severance Hospital, and Samsung Seoul Hospital do not participate in the strike. However, a total of 20 unions at high-level general hospitals, including Seoul Kyunghee University Hospital, Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University Guro Hospital, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, and Hanyang University Hospital, are scheduled to go on strike. These tertiary general hospitals are concerned regarding disruptions in care. An official from Kyung Hee University Hospital said, “The emergency room, operating room, and intensive care unit are scheduled to operate normally, and there are no plans to discharge or transfer patients. About 60% of Kyunghee University Hospital employees (excluding doctors) are members of the union. Korea University Anam Hospital and Korea University Guro Hospital are in a similar situation. Local hospitals might face disruptions in treatment if unionized nurses go on strike. However, the health authorities said, “Since private hospitals have a low union membership rate, local hospitals will not have any major problems.”
On the followingnoon of the 12th, health and medical union members are holding a general strike at Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, demanding the expansion of medical personnel and support for hospitals dedicated to infectious diseases. An inpatient passes over it. This is the first large-scale general strike by the health care union since 2004 in 19 years. 2023.7.12/Yonhap News
Some hospitals with a majority of union members are already creating treatment gaps. About 60% of the staff at Pusan National University Hospital and regarding 50% at the National Cancer Center are union members. The branch of Pusan National University Hospital in Yangsan, Gyeongnam, has been discharged or sent to other hospitals since the 10th, and the main office of Pusan National University Hospital since the 12th. The surgery schedule was also adjusted. It is to reduce the number of patients as it is difficult to manage the normal hospital room. Mr. Kim (56), whom we met in front of the Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital window on the 12th, said, “My younger brother is a cancer patient and he asked me to leave the hospital, so I urgently found another hospital, but I mightn’t find a private ambulance to pick up my younger brother.” Does it make sense?” Aunt (55) said, “Her mother, whose legs are paralyzed, was hospitalized for her pressure sore removal surgery, and her wounds are still oozing, but she tells her to leave the hospital.” Patients and their families lined up at the hospital with their luggage bags. The hospital did not inform the date of re-hospitalization as the strike might last for more than two days. If you want to be readmitted, you have to go through the procedure once more.
In the lobby of the National Cancer Center in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, a banner reading “No future without struggle” was hung that day. The union members held an event on the eve of the strike in the lobby. The National Cancer Center canceled all 100 surgeries scheduled for the 13th and 14th. Patient Seo-mo (63) said, “I came from Paju to receive inpatient cancer treatment for 4 nights and 5 days from today, but they say there is no hospital room.” Mr. Lee (63) said, “There are many cancer patients who work today and tomorrow, but if (the hospital) goes on strike, it is unclear where cancer patients are told to go.”
The ‘Health and Welfare Solidarity’, which is a collection of 14 positions in health care, including doctors and nurse assistants, excluding nurses, held a press conference in front of the Korean Medical Association in Seoul on the same day and said, “The members do not leave the patient’s side and fill the gap and confusion in the health care field. We will do everything in our power to minimize it.” He also said, “Certain hospitals such as Pusan National University Hospital in Yangsan may not be able to function due to the high rate of nurses joining the union.”
On the 12th, the KCTU Metal Workers’ Union also held a ‘political strike’ for one day demanding the resignation of the government. Hyundai Motor’s labor union went on partial strike for two hours each morning and followingnoon. In the followingnoon of that day, at the front gate of Hyundai Motor Company’s Ulsan plant, union members who had finished their work two hours earlier than usual lined up for nearly 20 minutes. It is the first time in five years that the union of Hyundai Motors has participated in a general strike. The production line at the Ulsan plant stopped for a while, and production of more than 2,000 units was disrupted.
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