There are about 1,000 Government Community Workers who work in various communities across the Province.

In rural Manitoba, Direct Service Workers (DSWs) and Child Development Workers (CDWs) are significant front-line contributors to the child welfare and social services sectors in these communities, providing much of the hands on service delivery to children, families, and individuals who need help.

It is distressing that, at a time when social workers across the province are straining under insurmountable workloads, the government is turning its back on the very workers whose job it is to work alongside, and often assist, social workers to ensure they can provide care to families in need.

When a family or individual client is referred to Child and Family Services, a social worker will do the initial assessment to determine what services are needed. Then it is often the DSW/CDWs that provide the day-to-day service to clients, including, but not limited to crisis intervention, complex personal care for individuals, early intervention for families and children dealing with special needs, and teaching basic living skills.

Did you know?

• The Department of Family Services and Labour offers these workers no guarantee of hours.
• All workers are considered “casual” employees even though they can work up to 80 hours bi-weekly.
• Because they are designated “casual”, these workers receive no benefits like health, dental or, pension.
• CDWs in rural Manitoba earn significantly less than comparable workers in Winnipeg.
• Workers are forced to subsidize their own jobs when they are not properly compensated for all expenses incurred while being required to use their own vehicle for work purposes.

DSWs and CDWs care about the job they do and care about their clients. But with no job security, it’s no wonder we see the high turn-over. It’s the clients who are negatively affected because there are constantly new workers providing these services.

The MGEU is requesting the creation of full-time and part-time positions which would result in more continuity in order to affect the changes needed to ensure children, families, and individuals in Manitoba are properly cared for and at the same time retain these experienced and valuable workers.

A radio campaign to raise awareness about DSWs and CDWs launched this week. Click here to listen to the ad.