On 13 December, Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) announced that it had concluded wage and collective agreements after 2 days of a strike by the SNUH trade union. In the agreement, labor and management will convert workers in permanent and continuous positions to regular employment status.
Temporary workers who have worked for 6 months or more will have permanent and continuous positions by the end of 2017, and the temporary workers who have worked less than 6 months will have permanent and continuous positions by the 1st quarter of 2018. Labor and management will discuss subcontracted workers in the 1st quarter of 2018, through a committee of an equal number of worker and employer representatives. The wage increase for 2018 is set at 3.5% of total wages in 2017.
The strike was expected to be protracted, due to the significant gap in positions held by SNUH labor and management in wage and collective bargaining. An SNUH spokesperson stated, “It was great that labor and management were able to conclude an agreement within 2 days. [During that time,] the hospital did not experience any issues with providing medical treatment or consultations, and is poised to provide more advanced medical services through this agreement.”