공공의료 공공돌봄을 향해 / Toward Public Healthcare and Public Care

The Medical Solidarity Division emerged from unions that left the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union in 2004 in pursuit of a new industrial union movement. Following the Hospital Trade Union Council and the Medical Solidarity Union, it was launched on September 1, 2006. It is a core organization within the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union, affiliated to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

This history records twenty years of reflection, debate and organizational rebuilding, carrying forward forty years of hospital labor activism and the struggle for public healthcare and public care.

The book comprises a three-part historical account, oral histories and appendices. Part One follows hospital workers’ unionization and the formation of their identity as workers. Part Two examines regional organization, the integration of healthcare and labor activism, the organizing of diverse hospital occupations, workplace struggles and expanding solidarity. Part Three presents assessments, challenges and the organization’s commitment to public healthcare and public care.