By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) will promote 1,600 irregular workers to regular ones before the end of the year, according to its union, Thursday. This will increase its total wage costs by 3.5 percent.
The hospital and the union also agreed to set up a negotiating body in the first half of next year to deliberate measures over whether to decrease the number of contract workers.
Four-hundred union members initiated a strike Wednesday, claiming the medical institution should remove what are referred to as “accumulated social ills,” including dismissing hospital head Suh Chang-suk and key officials there suspected of being involved in bribery, as well as the work status conversion.
Suh assumed the post at the recommendation of disgraced former President Park Geun-hye. He drew heated criticism for signing the death certificate of Baek Nam-ki, who died after being struck by a water cannon during an anti-government street protest in 2015, and identifying the cause of his death as being not related to the injury caused by the water cannon.
The union also demanded that the hospital halt its long-held practice of only paying nurses 360,000-won ($330) for the first month of their employment and to give them back pay for the past five years.
While the employment status of 1,600 employees will change, the union said the organized struggle would continue until their remaining demands are met.
“We have repeatedly held press conferences, launched campaigns and sought to meet with the hospital board which can recommend the dismissal of Suh, but he still seems to maintain that he is without fault,” the union said.
The surprise agreement came against initial expectations that the strike would continue for some time wreaking havoc with hospital operations.
“It is a relief that the management and union reached an agreement much faster than initially expected,” a hospital official said. “We will try to improve the quality of medical care following this mutual agreement. No inconvenience occurred that threatened patient safety.”
Meanwhile, SNUH came under criticism for unfair treatment of employees based on their employment status during the National Assembly inspection into government agencies and public institutions in October.
As heads of numerous organizations and departments under the university each had discretion over who to hire or whether to hire them as regular or irregular employees, the wages, extra pay and bonuses differed greatly between the two.
This often perpetuated what workers claimed was abuse of power and led to unequal treatment.