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| Members of the Daegu―North Gyeongsang Province branch of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union call on the government to increase healthcare personnel in front of Daegu City Hall, Wednesday, warning of a strike starting Sept. 2. Yonhap |
Government vows sincere negotiations with union
By Jun Ji-hye
Nurses and other healthcare workers across the nation are warning of going on strike early next month, calling for expanded public health services and infrastructure as well as improved working conditions.
The warning comes as they have been struggling with burnout and fatigue due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic that has lasted for more than a year and a half since the country reported its first virus case in January last year.
The government said it is coming up with appropriate countermeasures to reduce the burden on healthcare workers, mindful of concerns that their strike will pose a serious threat to the country's fight against the ongoing fourth wave of infections.
The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, associated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said Wednesday that its members will go on strike on Sept. 2, if its negotiations with the government do not reach a settlement in the next 15 days.
The union, representing nurses and most other healthcare-related workers excluding doctors, said it has already been in negotiations with the government since the end of May, but to no avail.
"Nobody knows when the pandemic will come to an end. President Moon Jae-in vowed to reinforce nursing personnel and improve working conditions last year, but nothing has changed since then," Na Soon-ja, the head of the union, said during a press conference in Seoul. "In 2018, the government also announced it would expand public health services and infrastructure, but nothing was implemented."
She said public hospitals, which account for less than 10 percent of all medical institutions of the nation, have been responsible for about 80 percent of COVID-19 patients, calling for more public services in preparation for the prolonging of the pandemic.
The union also demanded the government limit the number of patients per nurse by law and increase the number of doctors, claiming that they have been exhausted with the heavy workload during the pandemic.
A nurse who participated in the press conference noted that 80 percent of nurses have considered changing their jobs, while 42 percent of newly graduated nurses have already quit their jobs.
If the negotiations eventually break down, the union's 124 branches which are comprised of 136 medical institutes, including the National Medical Center and Korea University Anam Hospital, are expected to participate in the strike.
The number of members that will participate in the strike is estimated at 56,000, about 6 percent of the entire healthcare workforce in the nation. This is expected to deal a heavy blow at a time when concerns are growing over a shortage of hospital beds and medical workers amid no signs of a slowdown in infections.
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| A medical worker is on standby at a COVID-19 testing center in front of Seoul Station, Tuesday. Yonhap |
The government vowed to sincerely engage in negotiations with the union, saying it has been well aware of the need to increase healthcare personnel.
"We are doing our best to negotiate with the union to prevent its general strike that will cause inconvenience to patients," Park Hyang, who oversees antivirus measures at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, said during a media briefing.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country added 2,152 more COVID-19 cases, Wednesday, including 2,114 local infections, raising the total caseload to 230,808.
The new daily cases bounced back to over 2,000 after the figure had reached a record high of 2,222 on Aug. 10, as the country has been grappling with a major resurgence of infections since early July.
To contain the virus' spread, the KDCA is expected to maintain the strongest Level 4 distancing measures in the Seoul metropolitan area for another two weeks, as the current measures are set to end on Sunday. The KDCA will announce its decision on Friday.
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