Social work advocates plan rally following dissolution of collaborative group

On Friday afternoon round 30 social work advocates sat designing posters at Pease Park in preparation for his or her April 11 rally to protest low scholar employee pay in entrance of the Steve Hicks Faculty of Social Work.

“Unpaid labor = unpaid payments,” mentioned one signal, one other stating, “We are able to’t put shoppers first when you put us final.”

These people are a part of UT’s chapter of FED UP, the Area Training and Growth Undergraduate/Graduate Placements, a bunch devoted to enhancing the pay and discipline hours anticipated of social work college students. 

Beth Wagner, a core organizer for FED UP, mentioned the group established a working group with administration in fall 2022 to interact in conversations round low scholar pay, nevertheless it was dissolved abruptly in February by Social Work Dean Allan Cole.

“They sprung it on us in our first working group assembly of the spring semester,” mentioned Wagner, a social work graduate scholar. “We had been very stunned by that. We appeared for a lot of compromises … however they refused to budge.”

Wagner mentioned they’re presently planning their response to the latest adjustments with administration from the Steve Hicks Faculty of Social Work. 

In an e mail addressed to college students within the social work faculty earlier this semester, Cole mentioned the coed group’s involvement with administration was not dissolved and that he by no means threatened to take action, however as an alternative the working group was expanded to include the broader scholar physique.

“The optimistic and constructive conversations with this group of scholars have been hampered by their sharing of inaccurate data,” Cole mentioned within the e mail. “I made a decision it was time to develop the dialog past the working group to incorporate all of our college students.”

FED UP’s rally will happen on April 11 at 11 a.m. — proper earlier than the subsequent scholar help dialog Cole introduced in his February e mail.

Organizers mentioned the chapter, based in February of final 12 months, is a part of a nationwide motion to enhance the pay and labor hours of these enrolled in social work applications.

The Council on Social Work Training requires bachelor’s and grasp’s college students work 400 and 900 discipline hours, respectively. Wagner mentioned the College requires further hours to be accomplished, which the group hopes to scale back. 

Core FED UP organizer Parham Daghighi mentioned the college has additionally begun establishing a Pupil Help Fund for these in want. The applying course of for this fund is but to be launched.

Wagner mentioned the group hopes the college will set up an extra fund to pay college students for discipline work, given most social work companies are unable to compensate them on their very own.

“We’re not in it for the cash,” mentioned Miranda Finest-Campos, a core FED UP organizer. “(However) we do must receives a commission. We’re people that must survive, however cash is clearly not a motivator … one thing that’s actually essential for me is relationships and folks and that human connection, and I actually get that within the discipline of social work.”