Five Major Campaigns for Year 2019:

Against For-Profit Hospitals, 4 Out + 2 OK and others

KHMU will actively join in the March General Strike of KCTU to Urge the Government to Ratify the ILO Core Conventions

 

The Korean Health and Medical Worker’s Union (KHMU, President Na Sun-ja) made a final decision on five major campaigns for year 2019, which aim to prohibit for-profit hospitals, to beef up the public nature of medical services, and facilitate 4 Out (free labor, verbal and behavioral abuse, trick certification, atypical working positions) + 2 OK (safety, observance of medical law).

   During the 21^st anniversary ceremony and the regular congress that took place at the Buyoung Youth Camp Site for two days (Feb 27 to 28), the KHMU leadership, along with 350 congress members, discussed and determined the five focal activities that will go on throughout the year 2019.

The five major campaigns are as follows: ① block opening of for-profit hospitals and strength the public nature of medical services ② enact the health and medical personnel law and solve the manpower shortage issues in medical institutions ③ 4 Out (Free Labor Out, Verbal and Behavioral Abuse Out, Trick Certification Out, Atypical Working Position Out) ④ strengthen organizations and open the age of 100,000 union members ⑤ accelerate multi-layer negotiation practices and normalize industry-level negotiations.

 

President Na stated, “The KHMU committed to preventing even a single for-profit hospital from opening and started the struggle on January 3^rd this year in front of the Jeju Provincial Office. The protest has since spread out nationwide, showing the reserved strength of the KHMU. Based on the power, we at the KHMU will go on with five major campaigns.” She also stressed the importance of anti-for-profit hospital struggle and 4 OUT plus 2 OK campaign and the necessity of industry-level collective bargaining normalization.

 

The President Kim Myeong-hwan of the KCTU strongly criticized the flexible working system, which was agreed on in the expansive format and asked the union members to go together with the KCTU for the general strike in March. He said, “The flexible working system was created in a way to reflect capitalists’ interests in the first place. And now, they agreed to expand the system to more workplaces, which is completely against the initial intention of the labor standard law that aims to shorten the working hours. Worse more, under the pretext of the ILO convention ratification, they reconsider extending the effective period of collective bargaining to 3 - 4 years, legitimizing use of substitute workers during strike and prohibiting workplace occupation. This is the very evil revision of laws, targeting at the militant KCTU.”

 

The KCTU developed the general strike and all-out struggles mainly with the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) on March 6 and is now preparing for the second round of all-out struggle at the end of March. The KCTU President Kim appealed to the KHMU congress members, urging them to be part of the KCTU that tries to create alternatives, not remaining at opposing and blocking problems only, to realize the alternatives as an industry-based union, and to show resolution for success of March struggle.

 

Major Campaign Plans 2019

 

Block For-Profit Hospitals from Opening and Strengthen Public Nature of Medical Service

1. Prohibit for-profit hospital 2. Withdraw the policy for monetization of medical service

3. Grow medical institutions by specialties 4. Secure sufficient public healthcare services 5. Expand the coverage of the national health insurance 

 

Enact the Medical Personnel Law and Solve the Issue of Manpower Shortage

1. Enact the Medical Personnel Law 2. Solve the Issue of Manpower Shortage

 

4 OUT(Free Labor, Verbal and Behavioral Abuse, Trick Certification, Atypical Working Positions)  + 2 OK (Safety, Medical Law Observance)

1. Free Labor Out 2. Verbal and Behavioral Abuse Out 3. Trick Certification Out 4. Atypical Working Positions Out 5. Safety OK 6. Medical Law Observance OK

 

Strength the Organization and Open the Age of 100,000 Union Members

1. Strengthen the organization 2. Organize 100,000 workers 3. Create a roadmap for future growth of industry-level union 4. Reform and accelerate social solidarity

 

Facilitate the Multi-Layer Negotiation and Normalize Industry-level Collective Bargaining

1. Definition of Industry-level Negotiation and its Necessity

2. The reality and challenges of Industry-level Negotiation

3. Plan for 2019 Industry-level Collective Bargaining