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2012 Conference of EASP and SPA

Full Text

A Survey of the Labour Conditions and

Labour Union Movement of Social Workers in Taiwan

Cheng, Yi-Shih

PhD in Social Policy and Social Work

Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Tunghai University, Taiwan

Member of the Allocation and Review Committee, United Way, Taiwan

E-Mail: yishih@thu.edu.tw

Huang, Ying-Hao

Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Chang Jung Christian University, Taiwan

Chairman of the Taipei Social Worker Labour Union

Chung, Wen-Mei

Social Worker, Senior Citizen Welfare and Protection Association of Yulin County

Master, Department of Social Work, Tunghai University, Taiwan

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Abstract

In this study, we first explored the current labour conditions of private sector social

workers in Taiwan using the questionnaire survey method. We recruited only social

workers from organizations supported by United Way of Taiwan as the research

participants to clearly define the population. The results showed that although the

labour conditions were not ideal, their labour satisfaction was relatively high at 74 out

of 100 points. This indicated that these social workers possessed a slow and weak

labour consciousness. Additionally, we describe how a number of social workers

progressed from being completely unfamiliar with labour issues to being highly

engaged in organizing the Taipei Social Worker Labour Union based on participant

observations. Finally, we used the results mentioned previously to understand and

discuss how social workers in Taiwan understood and regarded their occupation. By

providing an in-depth discussion, we hope to stimulate the development of different

ideas and practices in social work education and the collective action of social

workers.

Keywords: Social worker, labour conditions, labour union movement, social work in

Taiwan

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Introduction

Social workers contribute their efforts to the practice of social work. Therefore,

if social workers experience fatigue, disconnection, or even a sense of alienation from

their work, how can they be expected to assist vulnerable groups and achieve social

justice? During their development, social workers in Taiwan are rarely taught to

understand, care about, and focus on their work, and are unaware that they can

demand their labour rights through collective action. However, at the beginning of

2011, a few social workers finally established a social worker labour union in Taipei

City. This was the first time that social workers in Taiwan participated in collective

social action to organize a labour union and can be considered as a meaningful

milestone.

We conducted this study with the following three objectives: (a) To understand

the current labour conditions of private sector social workers in Taiwan using a

questionnaire survey; (b) to describe how a number of social workers progressed from

being completely unfamiliar with labour issues to engaging in organizing the Taipei

Social Worker Labour Union based on participant observations; and (c) to consider

and discuss the importance of labour issues in the development of social workers by

integrating the research results.

Background: The labour conditions of social workers in Taiwan

Under the rapid social changes of the last two decades in Taiwan, social

workers’ clients, labour environments, and labour methods have undergone significant

development and become increasingly diverse. For example, working hours have

been changed to accommodate night duties and emergency standby responsibilities;

work hours have been increased because of additional holidays; and work-related

risks have risen because of various violent attacks. In addition, because of the

implementation of the new managerialism, various social welfare organizations have

encountered significant pressure to control operating costs and demonstrate

organizational performance efficiency. The changing of labour condition and limiting

of social worker labour costs by replacing traditional social workers with temporary

workers to reduce overall costs or better allocate limited resources have become

critical coping and survival strategies for organizations.

Under this environment and working conditions, medical staff and social

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workers in Taiwan have been ranked third for fatigue factor among all occupations

(Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 2008). In addition, data from the social

worker labour union preparatory group indicated that social workers are often

subjected to verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, sexual harassment, violent attacks,

stalking, traffic accidents, and other threats to personal safety (Huang and Chen,

2008). Occasionally, the mistreatment of social workers, such as wage arrears,

spontaneous dismissal, or wage reductions, is reported in the news. Previous domestic

studies regarding social workers’ labour situations have generally explored similar

labour-related topics, such as low wages, inadequate personal security, low

professional autonomy, low professional prestige, high work hours, high caseloads,

high work pressure, and high turnover rates (e.g., Peng, 2003; Huang and Chen, 2008).

In addition, a number of studies have indicated that poor working conditions cause

occupational burnout among social workers and may even be the primary factor

influencing social workers to quit their job or social work career (e.g., Kang, 2007;

Hsu, 2007; Cheng, 2011).

However, Taiwan currently has a divergent social worker field that includes

government departments, human resource management in private enterprises,

employee assistance program-related positions, and social welfare organizations or

institutions in the third sector. Independent practices and social work firms also exist.

To ensure the feasibility of this study, we investigated only social workers from

private social welfare organizations that receive grants from United Way of Taiwan.

Regarding social worker labour union activities, the members of the social worker

labour union are all private sector social workers. Therefore, the participants of this

study are private sector social workers.

A Survey of Labour Conditions

Method: Sample and Data Collection

The analysis data employed in this study were obtained from the survey

conducted by Chung (2011). The target of this survey was social workers from private

social welfare organizations included on the United Way of Taiwan’s December 2009.

For Chung’s survey, the stratified random sampling method was adopted. A total of

400 organizations were selected, and one questionnaire was mailed to each

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organization. The questionnaire was answered by one social worker elected by the

organization. After eliminating questionnaires completed by people with self-assigned

job titles such as chief executive officer, general director, chairman, or other high-

ranking positions; and non-organization personnel or non-social workers, such as

education officers or alternative military service members, we analyzed 191 valid

questionnaires (see Table 1).

Table 1. Overview of the number of organizations, valid questionnaires, and

questionnaire analysis

Organizational Attributes

Total Number of Organizations

Samples Extracted

Number of Questionnaires

Analyzed

Foundations 303 (37.8％) 151 78 (40.8％)

Associations 443 (55.2％) 221 99 (51.8％)

Private Organizations 56 (7.0％) 28 14 (7.3％)

Total 802 (100％) 400 191 (100％)

Variables and Research Framework

The research framework of this study is shown in Fig. 1. In this study, we

included six personal characteristic variables, four organizational characteristic

variables, eight work situation variables, and six work sentiment variables. We also

attempted to clarify the relationship between the orientations/variables.

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Figure 1. Research framework of this study

Statistical methods

For this study, we first conducted descriptive analysis of the variables

presented in Fig. 1 to obtain their frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard

deviation, etc., to understand the basic trends of each variable. Following the research

framework, we conducted multivariate analysis of how personal and organizational

characteristics influence social workers’ salary, work hours, and likelihood of

changing jobs, and assessed which variables had the most significant influence. If the

variables included in the multivariate analysis were nominal-level or ordinal-level

measurement, we first conducted processing with dummy codes.

Personal

Characteristics

1. Gender

2. Job Position

3. Marital Status

4. Educational

Background

5. Tenure (social work

tenure, and current

job tenure)

6. Possession of Social

Worker License

Organizational

Characteristics

1. Organizational

Attributes

2. Organization Size

3. Organization Age

4. Organization

Location

Work Situation

1. Salary (monthly)

2. Salary Increase

Scheme

3. Work Hours (per

day)

4. Overtime Scheme

5. Employment Type

6. False Write-Offs

7. Salary Donation

8. Personal Safety

Work Sentiments

1. Whether the salary is fair

2. Whether the work hours

are fair

3. Overall work satisfaction

4. Likelihood of changing

jobs

5. Likelihood of leaving

social work permanently

6. Worry about losing

current job

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Results

Private sector social workers in Taiwan tend to be women, unmarried, and have

high mobility. For this category of social workers, over 90% were women, 70% were

unmarried, 93% did not have a social worker license, and approximately 86% had

studied in a social work discipline which indicated that subsidized organizations

primarily recruit people with a formal social work-related education. Besides, the

social workers in the category had typically worked in the social work field for up to

5 years, with an average tenure of 3 years (Table 2). The data also indicated that social

workers in this category are likely to change jobs within approximately 3 years,

remain in the social work field for up to 5 years, but possibly change career after 5

years. The reason for the career change may be better treatment and opportunities for

promotions, which may not be entirely negative. However, a sense of uncertainty in

their current job or social work career affects social workers’ long-term career plans

and commitment to social work, which is detrimental to private organizations and the

long-term development of the social work profession.

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Table 2. Descriptive analysis of the personal and organizational characteristics

Variables Frequency (%) Variables Frequency (%) Personal Characteristics Organizational Characteristics Gender (n=191) Organizational Attributes (n=191)

Female 168 (88.0) Foundations 78 (40.9) Male 23 (12.0) Associations 99 (51.8) Job Title (n=191) Privately Managed Org. 14 (7.3) Grassroot-Level 159 (83.2) Organization Size (n=190) Mid-Level 32 (16.8) < 5 employees 52 (27.2)

Marital Status (n=191) 6-30 employees 81 (42.4)

Single 131 (68.6) 31-99 employees 36 (18.9)

Married 60 (31.4) >100 employees 21 (11.0)

Educational Background (n=190) Organization Age (n=189)

Graduated from a social

work department

164 (85.9) 1-10 years 47 (24.6)

Public school 20 (10.5) 11-20 years 78 (40.9) Private school 122 (63.9) > 21 years 64 (33.5)

Graduated from a social

work-related department

22 (11.5) Organization Location (n=191)

Never received social

work related education

4 (2.1) Northern Region 75 (39.3)

Social Work Tenure (n=185) Central Region 49 (25.7)

1-5 years 127 (66.5) Southern Region 47 (24.6)

6-10 years 32 (16.7) Eastern Region 20 (10.4)

> 11 years 26 (13.6)

Ave. = 5.14 years

Current Job Tenure (n=182)

1- 5 years 163 (85.3)

6-10 years 13 (6.8)

> 11 years 6 (3.1)

Ave. = 2.99 years

Social Worker License (n=190)

Have 13 (6.8)

Do not have 177 (92.7)

Regarding the labour conditions of social workers, we found that the private

sector social workers in Taiwan worked in unpleasant environments and were

uncertain of their future. The social workers’ salary did not appropriately reflect the

value of their labour and production (with an average monthly salary of £617,

approximately £8,000 annually). Additionally, they were required to work overtime

without reasonable compensation, lacked a reasonable salary adjustment mechanism

and sufficient personal security, and a number of social workers were required to

donate their salary or commit false write-offs (Table 3).

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In addition, social workers typically work for approximately 3 years in private

sector organizations, after which half consider switching jobs and one in five worry

about losing their job or wish to leave their social work career. The high turnover rate

indicates that a number of social workers feel a high degree of uncertainty toward

their social work career (Table 3). This also indicates that Taiwan’s private social

welfare organizations do not provide a comfortable and carefree working environment

for social workers.

Table 3. Descriptive analysis of the work environment and work sentiments

Variables Frequency (%) Variables Frequency (%) Work Situation Work Sentiments

Monthly Salary (n= 181) Reasonable Salary (n= 191)

< NTD 30,000 124 (64.9) Agree 92 (48.2)

NTD 30,001 - 35,000 40 (20.9) Neutral 52 (27.2)

> NTD 35,000 17 (9.0) Disagree 47 (24.6)

Ave. = NTD 29,709 Excessive Working Hours (n= 190)

Have Annual Salary Increases (n= 191) Agree 60 (31.4)

Yes 58 (30.4) Neutral 76 (39.8)

No 94 (49.2) Disagree 54 (28.4)

Unsure 39 (20.4) Work Satisfaction Level (n= 184)

Working Hours Per Day (n= 187) > 90 points 22 (11.5)

< 8 hours 71 (37.2) 80-89 points 70 (36.6)

8-10 hours 108 (56.5) 70- 79 points 55 (28.8)

> 10 hours 8 (4.2) < 60 points 37 (19.4)

Ave.= 9 hours Ave.= 74 points

Overtime Frequency (n= 190) Considered Leaving Current Job (n= 187)

Almost daily 18 ( 9.4) Agree 85 (44.5)

3-4 times per week 42 (22.0) Neutral 48 (25.1)

1-2 times per week 103 (54.0) Disagree 54 (28.3)

Never 27 (14.1) Considered Leaving Social Work Sector

Permanently (n= 189)

Employment Type (n= 188) Agree 32 (16.8)

Full-time 140 (73.3) Neutral 48 (25.1)

Short-term/contract hire 48 (25.1) Disagree 109 (57.1)

Salary Donation (n= 190) Worry About Losing Current Job (n= 188)

Never 133 (69.6) Agree 39 (20.4)

Happened before 57 (29.8) Neutral 42 (22.0)

False Write-Offs (n= 190) Disagree 107 (56.0)

Never 141 (73.8)

Happened before 49 (25.7)

Personal Security (indirect selection, n = 210)

Not provided 115 (54.7)

At least 1 item is provided 95 (45.2)

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Furthermore, this study examines the impact of personal and organization

qualities on the salary and working hours of social workers. Analyses results show

that seniority significantly impacts the salary and working hours of social workers.

Although accumulating years of social work brings a higher salary, it also increases

the number of hours in a working day. Marital status also has a significant impact on a

social worker’s working hours and dissatisfaction with their current position;

unmarried social workers worked more working hours and tended to be more

dissatisfied with their current positions than married social workers. Working hours

did not vary according to organization type, it means that all social workers are

overworked (as shown in Table 4 and Table 5).

Table 4. Results of multiple regression analysis on social workers’ monthly salary

Variable Model A1 Model A2

Personal Characteristics

Gender (Female=1) .048 (.086) .030 (.084)

Job Title (Grassroot-Level=1) - .525 (.081)*** - .475 (.082)***

Martial Status (Single=1) - .024 (.070) - .010 (.069)

Education Background (Graduated

from social work department=1) .053 (.084) .027 (.082)

Social Work Tenure .032 (.007)*** .032 (.007)***

Social Work License (do not have=1) - .170 (.117) - .122 (.115)

Organizational Characteristics

Attributes (Foundation=1) .042 (.065)

Size (≥31 employee =1) .150 (.069)*

Age .003 (.002) Constant

R2 n

3.339

.399***

174

3.149

.449***

171

Note 1: The values in the table are not standardized regression coefficients (B); the numbers in

parentheses are standard errors. Note 2: *indicates a .05 level of significance; **indicates a .01 level of significance; and *** indicates

a .001 level of significance.

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Table 5. Results of multiple regression analysis on social workers’ working hours

Variable Model B1 Model B2

Personal Characteristics

Gender (Female=1) .222 (.247) .188 (.240)

Job Title (Grassroot-Level=1) - .838 (.230)*** - .675 (.232)**

Martial Status (Single=1) .561 (.206)** .558 (.202)**

Education Background (Graduated

from social work department=1) - .033 (.242) - .106 (.236)

Social Work Tenure .041 (.021) .045 (.021)*

Social Work License (do not have=1) .173 (.330) .260 (.323)

Organizational Characteristics

Attributes (Foundation=1) .218 (.186)

Size (≥31 employee =1) .376 (.197)

Age - .005 (.005)

Constant

R2 n

8.718

.121**

179

8.456

.162***

176

Note: the meaning of the values, numbers and star marks are the same as table 4

In this study, we also investigate which related variables had a greater influence

on social workers’ tendency to quit their current job through a series of logistic

regression analysis. The results indicated that unmarried people, working in

associations or Privately Managed Organizations, with low salaries had higher

uncertainty and tended to have a stronger desire to switch jobs compared to married

people, working in foundations, with higher salaries (as shown in Table 6).

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Table 6. Results of logistic regression analysis on social workers’ tendency to quit their current

job

Variable Name Model C1 Model C2 Model C3 Personal Characteristics

Gender (Female=1) - .617 (.474) - .613 (.482) - .834 (.548) Job Title (Grassroot-Level=1) - .024 (.434) - .160 (.455) - .665 (.581) Martial Status (Single=1) .701 (.359) .645 (.365) 1.038 (.425)*

Education Background (Graduated

from social work department=1) .113 (.451) .198 (.461) .101 (.544)

Current Job Tenure - .044 (.067) - .024 (.068) .007 (.079) Social Work License (do not have=1) - .254 (.620) - .414 (.633) - .830 (.711)

Organizational Characteristics

Attributes (Foundation=1) - .687 (.367)* - .926 (.421)* Size (≥31 employee =1) .019 (.385) .093 (.456) Age - .006 (.011) - .004 (.013)

Work Situation

Monthly Salary - 1.185 (.537)* Working Hours Per Day .189 (.175)

Employment Type (Full-time=1) .765 (.459) False Write-offs Experiences

(Happened before=1) .465 (.408)

Constant

Vox and Snell

R2

n

.118

.042

180

.680

.068

177

2.537

.163**

162

Note: the meaning of the values, numbers and star marks are the same as table 4

The analysis results in Table 6 indicate that the three groups of variables only

explain 17% of the variance, and many other factors influence people’s tendency to

quit their social work positions. Numerous studies have discussed the problems faced

by social workers and the reasons for the high turnover rate from various perspectives.

For example, Wang (2011) contended that when new managerialism erroneously

applied the management philosophy of the manufacturing sector to the social work

sector, the crucial but unmeasurable social work contributions (such as developing

client relationships) became invisible. This is the primary reason Taiwan’s social

workers feel their contributions are ignored and become alienated from their jobs.

Domineli and Hoogvelt (1996), Parton (1998), Jones (2001), and Healy and Meagher

(2004) highlighted that the social work sector has become more standardized and

documented, which significantly reduced the autonomy of social workers and caused

them to feel alienated from their jobs. This is the primary cause of the substantial

turnover rate for social workers in the U.K. Samantrai (1992), Rycraft (1994), Gibbs

(2001), and Mor Barak et al. (2006) stated that social workers employed in the U.S.

child welfare system tended to quit their jobs because of a lack of support and

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dissatisfaction with their supervisors. Tham (2007) found that social workers

employed in the Stockholm child welfare system tended to quit their jobs because

they were not valued by the organization, felt they were not taken care of, and the

organization did not care about employee’s health and welfare. Therefore, the

working conditions are not the only factors influencing social workers to quit. Further

conformance to labour philosophy, greater autonomy, and more organizational

support are valued the most highly by social workers.

Labour Union Movement of Social Workers in Taiwan

The study results discussed previously showed that although Taiwan’s social

workers work in unpleasant environments and face uncertainty, they tend to have high

labour satisfaction. Half the social workers believed their salaries were reasonable,

and 40% did not feel they worked excessively. These results indicate that Taiwan’s

private sector social workers are not sensitive to their “labour rights.” In Taiwan,

social workers rarely worry, analyze, or pay attention to their work environments.

Only when they encounter extremely unreasonable treatment would they begin

noticing labour issues as discussed in Kang (2007), when workers were unexpectedly

fired, and in Cheng (2011), when workers’ salaries were unreasonably reduced.

Therefore, mass movements organized by the Social Worker Labour Union can

perform the important function of enhancing work ethics and reducing exploitative

working conditions for social workers.

In 2006, a grassroots social worker group concerned with labour rights and the

interests of social workers formed the Social Worker Labour Union Preparatory

Group in Taiwan. Through the Internet, waves of action, campus advocacy,

community camps, discussion forums, and street-walk activism, the Taipei Social

Worker Labour Union was officially established on July 24, 2011. The focus of the

Taipei Social Worker Labour Union is currently community activities and training

organizations. As the union matures, it hopes to focus on unifying grassroots social

workers, improving social workers’ labour rights, and ensuring that social workers

work in environments that are more conducive to the concept of social work, have

greater autonomous, and enjoy more organizational support.

The Social Worker Labour Union Preparatory Group was established by a group

of social workers with no awareness of work ethic concepts, but who believed that

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social workers’ labour conditions required change. Between 2006 and 2011, the Social

Worker Labour Union Preparatory Group has highlighted numerous social welfare-

related issues and communicated social workers’ concerns and needs to the

community. Specific activities include (1) ensuring the Labour Standards Law is

applied fully to social workers’ actions; (2) increasing awareness of the safety issues

of social workers; (3) investigating social workers’ working conditions; (4) providing

services at social work credential testing sites and distributing social worker labour

rights advocacy materials; (5) writing encouragement cards to on-site social workers

providing disaster relief and reconstruction labour following Taiwan’s Morakot

typhoon disaster in 2009; (6) establishing a social worker community work camp; (7)

participating in the May Day parade, and (8) protesting the “shifting of government

responsibility by using social workers as scapegoats for the problems of child

protection agencies and fuzzy social welfare programs,” as well as other preparatory

activities (Huang and Cheng, 2011).

Taiwan’s Social Worker Labour Union is still new to labour rights activism. In

addition to dialogues and collaborations with internal members, the union must

communicate with Taiwan’s social worker community to cooperate in labour rights

activism. The union is currently considering several strategic directions to stabilize

conditions for Taiwan’s social workers and unite their collective strength. These

directions include how to unify grassroots social workers and formulate the

movement framework, connect with other welfare service personnel (such as

psychologists and nurses) to create a unified labour union to face the negative impact

of publicizing and commercializing social work, and seek possible anti-oppression

remedies to maintain the union’s relationships with grassroots social workers, and to

address the relationship between the union, capital costs, and the country.

Conclusion

The labour conditions of private sector social workers in Taiwan involve

complex structural problems, such as how national policy can enhance the overall

financial and operating structure of third-party organizations to ensure they have

sufficient resources and provide a pleasant working environment. How can the

competent authorities’ (social affairs and labour administration units) policies

improve and protect the working conditions and labour rights of social workers. How

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can employers create pleasant working environments and provide reasonable salaries

and a salary adjustment system, a reasonable overtime compensation system,

adequate personal security measures, and appropriate grievance channels. How an

organizational environment that is more conducive to the concepts of social work,

more autonomous, and more supportive of social workers can be created to provide

enjoyable and dignified labour conditions for social workers.

We understand that these expectations cannot be achieved without specific

actions and advocacy. Therefore, the unification of social workers and their collective

voices and actions is critical. Through the Social Worker Labour Union platform,

social workers can have a voice, support each other, assemble, promote awareness of

labour rights, and enable collective action. The Social Worker Labour Union can also

help integrate the concepts and actions for reasonable labour, management, and social

justice demanded by social workers into organizational policy and management

strategies. This is an effective strategy for constructing friendly and dignified working

environments that support the concept of social work.

We cannot deny that new managerialism has had a profound impact on the

labour conditions of social workers. However, when the standardization or

normalization of service processes and evidence and performance are the sole basis

for measuring the work of social workers, the aesthetic experience of helping others

and the autonomy of social workers are significantly reduced. Thus, how can we

identify a solution and rectify this situation? The only possibility for finding the new

path is through endless collaboration, debate, discussion, assembly, and action.

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