NEW YORK — March is National Professional Social Work Month, when social workers around the country raise awareness of the important roles they fill.
With masters' degrees and thousands of hours of supervised training, licensed clinical social workers are the number-one providers of mental health services in New York state. Nationally, there's a shortage of social workers, and their average salaries are much lower than other similarly licensed professions.
Samantha Howell, executive director at the New York Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, said many have difficulty paying off student loans and supporting their families.
"We're constantly struggling to raise awareness about the fact that they do bring a specific, unique and much-needed skill set,” Howell said. “And that should be recognized in several ways - including adequate compensation."
New York social workers are in schools, hospitals and a variety of public agencies, often carrying huge caseloads. The NASW is calling its 2019 campaign "Elevate Social Work," highlighting the critical functions social workers perform on a daily basis.
Nationally, social workers are paid an average of $10,000-$15,000 a year less than nurses and teachers. Dr. Angelo McClain, CEO of the NASW's national organization, said part of the problem is the fee structure built into Medicare.
"Currently, social workers are reimbursed at 75 percent of the physician fee schedule,” McClain said. “Social work is the only profession that's reimbursed at a rate lower than 85 percent."
The Improving Access to Mental Health Act, to be introduced in Congress this year, would raise social worker compensation to 85 percent.
Howell emphasized that social workers have impact far beyond the immediate clients they serve.
"I can guarantee that every New Yorker has been touched by a social worker, they've been affected by a social worker and may not even realize it,” Howell said, “because of the breadth of service provided in this field."
She added that raising compensation is an important step toward ensuring there will be enough licensed, trained social workers available to meet the needs of all New Yorkers.
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A New York City music school's faculty is back in the classroom after a weeklong strike.
The Manhattan School of Music's Precollege Program faculty walked off the job after lengthy union negotiations broke down. The teachers have been working without a union contract since last August. While the union has made concessions, it said the school has been reluctant to compromise.
Adam Kent, president of the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Faculty Union, said they were forced to strike because the school was not taking the union seriously.
"We gave them over three weeks. We asked them if they wanted to reconsider their last proposal and they spelled it out that, no, they wouldn't be making any new proposals," Kent recounted. "We gave them two days notice when we actually declared the strike, and their first response was to try to line up 'scabs.'"
He noted the union is heading back to the bargaining table with the hope of getting a cost of living increase aligned with other schools, such as the Mannes School of Music and Juilliard. In a statement, the Manhattan School called the union's actions "disruptive to student learning" and argued they have had little or no availability to negotiate. Students, parents and other union members have joined the faculty's picket line.
While this was the first strike, Kent said he cannot say whether it will be the last. He cautioned there could be another, longer strike if the pattern of bargaining continues. He added recent comments from the school's attorney regarding the union's National Labor Relations Board case against the school make him leery about what lies ahead.
"The attorney made a comment to us, 'Good luck with your board,' in the context of the eviscerating of all of these federal agencies under the new administration, and we were really chilled by that," Kent acknowledged. "We really saw it as part of this idea of people claiming impunity and taking advantage of the current political climate."
Throughout negotiations, there have been questions about how much money is available for faculty raises. The school has continuously said there are not enough funds for a pay raise, but tax filing data show the school's president and executives received large pay increases last year. Other data indicate the school's tuition has risen 58% since 2014.
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Whether it's pressure from inflation or health-care costs eating away at savings, a reliable "nest egg" is still up in the air for many Americans.
There are calls to bring more certainty and retirement simplicity to the table for workers. Pensions offered to public employees are seen as more stable because they're not shaken by movements in the financial markets.
In recent polling from the National Institute on Retirement Security, 86% of Americans say all workers, including the private sector, should have a retirement plan that is more pension-driven.
Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, says retirement coverage is still too spotty for non-wealthy workers, leaving them on their own to put away savings.
"In general, we're just asking way too much of individuals to get all this right. And saving during the middle years of your life to provide income throughout retirement, it really is a challenging endeavor," he explained.
He added the good news is that more states, including Minnesota, are setting up programs that enroll private-sector workers in an IRA-style plan.
The goal is to step in when a company can't or won't offer retirement perks. Experts say they're easy for states to operate and benefit small businesses because they don't have to contribute. But for the workers, the IRAs typically have lower contribution limits, meaning the retirement savings might not stretch as far.
Just like state and local governments, Doonan said a more simplified network of retirement programs around the country can help companies in the private sector avoid staff turnover.
"As they do move in that direction, I think what you'll see is more loyalty in return to the company. So, there are some benefits for private employers, especially employers who value retention," he continued.
Congress has taken its own steps by adopting policies such as the Secure 2.0 Act, which updates federal rules dealing with retirement plans in hopes of boosting access. Doonan said those reforms could steer more people toward savings accounts similar to pensions. But he warns rising health care costs for older populations still could put a damper on things. And partisan divides remain in Congress over the future of Social Security.
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A recent round of employee cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency and other efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to follow through on the president's campaign promise to reduce the size of the federal government have prompted concern among government employees.
In Iowa, the cuts will have an effect on a number of employees.
Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa AFL-CIO, said the cuts or job reclassifications threaten veterans' services employees, civil servants who work at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, just across Iowa's western border, programs that help people access Social Security benefits, or work in government security jobs in Des Moines. He said all the moves are not being made based on facts.
"Beyond that, it's a real problem to transform the professional civil service into an army of political appointees that are just loyal to one person and not to the mission to the American public or to what their job is actually supposed to be," asserted,
The American Federation of Government Employees marched in Washington, D.C., on Monday to rally against, among a host of measures, House Resolution 201, which would recalculate the way federal agencies evaluate employee performance and calculate their pay. The administration said it is making good on President Trump's campaign pledge to reduce the size of the federal government.
Wishman acknowledged while the looming job cuts across Iowa and the country create uncertainty among government employees, there is a bright spot.
"People understand that the way for them to fight back is collectively," emphasized. "AFGE has seen their numbers of new members jump by thousands since the president got his pen out and started writing executive orders, some of which aren't even legal."
A federal judge late last week ordered a temporary hold on Trump's order to effectively dismantle
the U.S. Agency for International Development, saying the affected employees would suffer "irreparable harm" from layoffs with no notice.
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