Social workers in the prison system have started a work slowdown to protest intolerable work conditions.
Union chairman Itzik Perry says the social workers have been forced to deal with an overwhelming caseload, while carrying out their duties at their own expense.
“By the nature of their work, they are forced to make house calls across the country and carry out visits to residential centers, trips to courthouses and detention centers – and that’s in their private cars, without even minimal compensation,” Perry told the Hebrew daily Haaretz.
What the walkout means for the system is the loss of expert opinions to the courts as to whether to release a prisoner from jail. Judges often rely heavily on reports by social workers to determine the level of risk involved in releasing a prisoner, and to decide whether treatment will be effective as an alternative to incarceration.
It also means the loss of psychotherapists to evaluate suspects accused of sexual and violent offenses, as well as specialists who question children who have been molested or attacked in other ways. Such interviews and assessments are called "forensic evaluations."
These social workers, called “test officers,” earn less per hour than the average cleaning worker, with the average mid-range pay for a seasoned professional starting at NIS 25 to 30 ($5.85 to $7.00) per hour. “Most cleaning people in the country – even in outlying areas, are making at least NIS 35 ($8.19) per hour,” one social worker who asked not to be identified told Arutz-7. “It’s ridiculous.”
According to the union, test officers carry out more than 31,000 investigations per year and supervise 16,000 adult convicts and suspects. Social workers who deal with children provide case management and other services to more than 23,000 juvenile offenders.
The social worker added that very few full-time social work positions are available, even at that low salary. “Most positions are for half-time or three-quarter time hours. If you look at a listing for social work jobs, you can see it for yourself. It’s impossible to feed a family on that kind of salary, even as a second income.”
Even for a full-time social worker, the salary is little more than that of an experienced secretary, with a college-educated senior test officer receiving a base salary of NIS 5,500 after 17 years on the job.
The union says the government’s unwillingness to fill positions left vacant during maternity leaves and sabbaticals is exacerbating the situation.
Social workers are also often expected to pay for their own travel and phone calls. “As if the heavy caseloads and treatment of weak groups on the margins of society aren’t enough, [the social workers] are also required to finance the work out of their own pockets,” noted Perry.
Welfare Minister Yitzchak Herzog and his ministry director-general, Nachum Itzkovitz, both said they support the social workers’ demands. However, the officials said there was little they could do about it. They claimed their hands are tied by the Finance Ministry and Civil Service Commission.
Finance Ministry Facing Other Work Actions
Workers across the country may also walk out next week, says the Histadrut national labor union, if there are no breakthroughs in negotiations with the Finance Ministry.
Union leader Ofer Eini and Finance Ministry representative Eli Cohen met Sunday to discuss the matter, but made no progress. Both are expected to meet again Monday.
A general strike by the union would include all government offices, airports, seaports, railways, garbage collection and municipalities. Courts, emergency services and utility companies (electric, phone) would not join a total strike, but would instead participate in a work slowdown.
Meanwhile, postal workers have resumed their sanctions as part of their struggle with the Finance Ministry. The workers are demanding a Finance Ministry guarantee they will not lose their jobs when the postal services market is opened to competition by private firms.
The government postal workers fear the ministry’s refusal to lower post office prices will make it difficult to compete with private service providers.