There has been growing alarm across the social work profession at the financial insecurity and degraded working conditions of social workers. Poor pay and lack of public regard experienced by social workers throughout the pandemic are but two examples of the profession’s long and steep decline. While this decline has been evident to front line workers, it is largely ignored in practice, by professional associations, and their leadership.

This has led a concerned group of social workers to start a nation-wide campaign to address these systemic issues which threaten the very status of social workers, including but not limited to: deplorable salaries, ballooning workloads, demands for unpaid overtime, and racial and gender inequality. We can no longer espouse calls for racial equity, social justice, dignity, and self-determination for our clients and communities and not demand the same for those who toil as professional social workers!