Demanding Welfare, South Korean Health And Medical Workers Union Strikes Next Week

JAKARTA - South Korea's Health and Medical Workers Union (South Korea) announced this Saturday that it will go on strike next week to demand an increase in welfare.

Launching ANTARA, Saturday, August 24, medical workers in South Korea asked for an increase in salaries and normalization of the country's health system which was disrupted by a prolonged strike by interns, according to the union officials.

The union, which consists of around 30,000 nurses and medical personnel at 61 hospitals, said that more than 91 percent of its members supported the strike plan.

If mediation by the industrial relations committee fails, the union plans to launch a simultaneous strike next Thursday.

The union has urged hospitals to immediately fill the vacancy of medical personnel caused by an intern strike for months and raise workers' salaries by 6.4 percent.

Around 12,000 interns have refused to work since the end of February in protest against the government's plan to increase the number of medical students.

The union officials confirmed that nurses and medical personnel at critical services will continue to work according to regulations if the strike is carried out next week.