Seoul Social Service Center shuttered People Power City Council < Welfare < Society < Text of article

The Seoul City Council closes the Seoul Social Service Center.

The Seoul City Council held a plenary meeting at the Seoul City Council in Jung-gu, Seoul on the afternoon of the 26th and passed the ordinance to abolish the ordinance on the establishment and operation support of the Seoul Metropolitan Government Social Service Center with 59 in favor, 24 against, and 1 abstention among the 84 members present. On this day, users, including Seoul-area labor and civil society groups and those with severe disabilities, who opposed the closure of the Seoul Social Service Center, cried out against the repeal of the ordinance, but were ignored.

Criticism of the ruling party: “Seosawon workers only take care of their comfort through taxes”

The ruling party took the lead in closing the Seoul Social Service Center. In the pros and cons debate prior to the vote on this day, People Power Party City Councilor Kim Young-ok said, “The Seoul Social Service Center has lost its ability to self-purify, and is an obstacle that is reducing and hindering public care to an incapacitated state from which it can no longer recover.” “They only take care of their own comfort through taxes,” he said. Councilor Kim was named as a co-sponsor of the abolition ordinance proposed by People Power Party Councilor Kang Seok-ju along with councilors Man-hee Yoo, Jong-bae Lee, and Ho-jeong Choi from the same party.

The opposition party opposed the closure. Lee Byeong-do, a city council member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “It is not the role of the National Assembly to take the lead in discussing the abolition of institutions with important values ​​because they have room for improvement,” and added, “The public nature of care must be expanded for citizens to live happy lives, and social service centers are needed.” “He countered.

Jin Seong-seon, a severely disabled person and activist for women with disabilities who participated in a press conference opposing the abolition of the ordinance in front of the city council prior to the plenary session, said, “Nothing has changed even after going through COVID-19,” and “I am angry that the city council is taking action in the retreat of human rights.” . He emphasized, “It is destroying the rights of care workers and countless people who need care,” and “If city council members do not receive care, it is because of their social position and power.” This is a criticism aimed at city council members belonging to the People Power Party who are insensitive to the need for care.

I performed non-touch care in the private sector for COVID-19.

Despite opposition from the opposition party and civil society, the abolition ordinance was passed and the Seoul Social Service Center will be closed as of November 1. The 10 billion won in operating support expenses scheduled for this year is also expected to be discontinued.

The Seoul Social Service Center is an organization established in 2019 with funding from the Seoul Metropolitan Government to publicly provide a wide range of care services for infants, the elderly, and the severely disabled. It received high praise for providing care for blind spots that private care services could not reach amid the spread of COVID-19. However, the People Power Party members of the city council have consistently said that the wages of workers belonging to the Seoul Social Service Center are about three times higher than those in the private market as of 2020, and that the proportion of users in the nursing care level (grades 1 to 3) is 38.2%, which is lower than the private sector (45.3%). The closure was pushed for because it was a provider-centered service with limited night and weekend operations. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul City Council also caused public outrage by demanding that the wages of workers at the Seoul Social Service Center be lowered to the minimum wage.

The Seoul Social Services Agency’s labor and management have been discussing ways to respond to these criticisms during negotiations, and an arbitration proposal was recently submitted to the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission, but it was ignored. People Power City Councilor Hwang Yoo-jeong said at the plenary meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council held the previous day that she said, “I have waited long enough, but the workers at the Seoul Metropolitan Government Social Service Center do not know how to yield, so we have to close it down.”

Labor union: “Public nature is being degenerated, and citizens’ voices are being ignored”

The Seoul headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions criticized the plenary session’s passage on this day as “a regression in public care and an outrage that ignores the voices of citizens and workers.” The Seoul headquarters said, “Following the budget cuts of the Seoul Social Service Center and the consolidation of comprehensive home care centers, the City Council is trying to abolish public care by eliminating the basis for operating the Seoul Social Service Center,” adding, “It runs counter to the demands of Korean society, where low birth rates and aging population are worsening.” “He criticized.

It is pointed out that it is out of sync with recent central government legislative trends. The National Assembly passed the Act on Integrated Support for Local Care, including Medical and Nursing Care (Regional Care Act) at the plenary session in February. The basis of this law is to provide integrated and linked local care and medical services in local governments where elderly or disabled citizens reside. The Seoul Headquarters said, “The Seoul Metropolitan Government must also prepare a consultative body and dedicated organization for the basis of integrated support for care services in line with the implementation of the Local Care Act, but if the Seoul Social Service Center, the only public care specialized agency that will serve as the starting point, is abolished, how will integrated regional care be provided? “Are you going to do it?” he asked.