Korean Health Workers strike and rally to win
A 100,000-person rally is due to take place on November 14 to kick off an all out struggle against the Park Geun-hye Administration's agenda to introduce retrogressive guidlines and attempting to amend laws to make it easier for companies to fire workers, increase temporary labour, and implement wage cuts. In order to fight these changes, Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions will go on strike in early December.
The Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union will hold a Delegates 'Convention on November 16 and vote on taking part in this all out struggle.
Already, the union's members in the National University Hospital branch and Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences have agreed to participate in the December strike. This is because the Park administration is driving forward with plans to implement their “Wage-Peak System,” a system set out to cut wages in hospitals without the consent of workers.
The KHMU has also been holding industry negotiations on behalf of their branches. Employers remain uncooperative. On October 13, the KHMU filed a petition for mediation for the 20,000 union members involved. The workers then took a strike vote and elected to strike on October 29 when members took to the streets of Seoul. Subsequently, the Ewha Womens University Medical Center workers took a 5-day strike.
Wage negotiations have now been concluded in a number of private hospitals.
In this year’s negotiations, the KHMU demanded the prevention of the government’s retrogressive change of the labor market, increase in wage for the actual improvement of wages, procuring enough labor force for job creation, and eliminating temporary positions in hospitals for safety purposes. Coupled with these demands, the KHMU is also unfolding a large-scale push for “The Campaign to Establish Three Areas of Respect in Hospitals.” The campaign is aiming to create respect for safety in hospital, friendly work place environment devoid of physical or verbal violence, and strict working hours.