The Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW) and Social Workers Union (SWU) are calling on Aberdeen City Council to re-think proposals to cut the number of hours for social workers in the authority.
SWU has written to Aberdeen City but, so far, the Council has refused to meet with them on the grounds that they are not part of the collective bargaining agreement; having been blocked from Trades Union Congress (TUC) membership by some of the larger unions. We urge all those involved in the decision-making process to engage with every trade union that their workers contribute to. This is only respectful to employees.
We are concerned this action sets a dangerous precedent for public services in Scotland. This appears to be in absolute opposition to the wide recognition of the need to invest in and support social work. The public understands that our profession plays a vital role in keeping people safe and upholding human rights.
SASW has written to the political parties responsible for Aberdeen City Council, the SNP and Liberal Democrats, to ask if they support the cuts to terms and conditions the council is proposing and to call on them to take action to work with their councillors to find an alternative way forward.
National Director of SASW, Alison Bavidge, commented:
“We recognise that councils are under financial strain. However, this proposal will add stress and workload pressure onto social workers whose profession has been at the sharp end of almost two decades of austerity – having preventative, early intervention and community work removed from their role and job descriptions.
“Families, individuals, and communities have lost significant supportive infrastructure and swathes of early support. These cuts would set a dangerous precedent for social workers and the people they support.”
General Secretary of SWU, John McGowan, commented:
“This is a step in the wrong direction at a time when services have already been cut to the bone. Social workers need more support with large and increasingly complex caseloads, not to have their hours cut – especially during a cost-of-living crisis. Flexible working solutions such as part-time roles and job sharing could help to fill staff vacancies and ease budget pressures as well as supporting social workers to thrive in the workplace. However, this must be a collaborative process and should not have staff concerned about their pensions or the security of their jobs.
“The issues caused by the significant vacancy rate in social work teams in Aberdeen will only be compounded by this proposed change to current staff’s terms and conditions. The lack of engagement from the council is disappointing and we would still very much welcome the opportunity to meet, clarify, and discuss.”