South Korea in eleventh-hour talks to head off strike by health workers

FILE PHOTO: A health worker rests inside a booth as she conducts a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, South Korea, July 15, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean government officials were in last-ditch efforts on Wednesday to stave off a strike by health workers who say they are exhausted from battling waves of COVID-19 outbreaks and need more personnel and better work conditions.

The Korean Health and Medical Worker's Union has warned some of its 80,000 members, including nurses, medical engineers, pharmacists and administrative hospital staff, would begin striking from Thursday if demands are not met.