The Constitutional Court on Monday ruled the current law banning paramedics from staging strikes constitutional.

The ruling weighing more on public health than labor rights is expected to fuel controversies among health workers here.

“It is true that the Labor Law puts more restrictions on health workers than on those of other industries. But given the fact that a strike at emergency rooms or other paramedical facilities could pose a huge threat in the already urgent situations directly affecting public health and life, the maintenance of the current regulation is necessary,” the court said, adding that the decision was made unanimously.

The petition was filed in 2010 by the Korea Health and Medical Workers’ Union claiming that the law preventing workers of the “essential workplace” from staging strikes or allowing employers to hire a replacement immediately infringes on equal rights.

Currently, workers at hospitals or in the blood supply, railway, metro, airline, tap water, electricity, gas, gasoline refinery and supply and telecommunications industries, as well as the Bank of Korea, are designated as “essential workers” banned from striking.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)