Employees associated with the union of Seoul National University Hospital will go on indefinite strike from October 31.

Seoul, October 19 (IANS). Unionized employees of Seoul National University (SNU) Hospital, one of South Korea's largest hospitals, have decided to launch an indefinite strike from October 31 to protest against government policy changes and poor working conditions.

The union is demanding to maintain the number of beds in the hospital, improve working conditions and increase the salaries of the employees. The strike was decided at a union meeting after failed talks with the hospital.

The union alleges that the government is attempting to destroy the public health care system by reducing the number of beds in tertiary hospitals, including public hospitals like SNU Hospital, and increasing the number of working hours for staff in public hospitals, reports Yonhap news agency. The situation has failed to improve.

The union says the workers will go on strike as planned if the hospital administration does not accept its call to strengthen the public health care system and hire more personnel to protect the staff and patients.

The government had earlier decided to increase medical school seats by 1,500 by 2025 to address the shortage of doctors, with plans to increase it by 2,000 in the next five years.

In protest against this, thousands of trainee doctors have been absent from their workplaces by submitting mass resignations since February. At the same time, the medical community is calling for starting the discussion on the agenda afresh.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Cho Kyu-hong said the government was ready to talk with doctors if they proposed a debate on medical reform. Cho made the comments following a debate between the government and medical professors at Seoul National University (SNU) last week, which focused on medical reform aimed at increasing the number of new medical school students.

Cho said, “Although the government and the SNU emergency committee were unable to bridge their differences during the session, it is important that discussions have begun in an effort to find a solution.”

–IANS

RK/AKJ