The labor union at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) has announced that it will launch an indefinite general strike from the last day of this month.

Last Friday, the Seoul National University Hospital Branch of the Korean Healthcare Workers’ Trade Union (KHWU) announced that it decided to launch a general strike from Oct. 31 at its ninth extraordinary congress held the previous day.

According to the union, the SNUH labor and management held the 17th round of collective bargaining and the 15th round of working-group bargaining from July 23 to Oct. 16 but failed to reach an agreement.

The union issued “Five Demands of Hospital Workers to Save Public Hospitals”: raising real wages, blocking restructuring, stopping the passing of the buck to employees for management deficits caused by the healthcare crisis, recruiting essential personnel, and strengthening the healthcare system’s public service nature.

“Through bargaining, we stopped the reduction of public sickbeds included in the fake healthcare reform pilot project and demanded an end to the transfer of responsibility for the medical crisis to employees and improvements in wages and working conditions,” the union said. “However, President and CEO Kim Young-tae reinforced unpaid leave citing the deficit caused by the medical crisis, effectively cutting wages and refusing to recruit essential personnel.”

“The hospital scene has been virtually chaotic since the medical crisis,” the union said. “Workers at public hospitals, which have treated 80 percent of Covid-19 patients, were expecting the hiring of essential staff and improved treatment this time. However, Kim rejected our demands in collective bargaining to guarantee employment and ensure we do not suffer any personnel disadvantages due to the medical crisis.”

The union urged Kim to accept the union's demands and take measures to strengthen public healthcare.

“The indefinite general strike starting on Oct. 31 is a struggle to normalize Seoul National University Hospital and defend public healthcare,” the union said. “There is still time. CEO Kim must take measures to strengthen the role of the nation’s central hospital and protect public healthcare. We will go on strike if he does not accept the union's demands.”