To Serve or To Strike? A Social Worker’s Dilemma

Tanya Santos

And while C.E.O. Santos seeks to assure her social workers that she is not out on a witch hunt, she says the number of social workers not reporting for duty currently is very minimal.   According to the Chief Executive Officer, choosing between strike action and the obligation to their clients is an ethical dilemma. 

Tanya Santos, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development, Families and Indigenous People

“From the reports I have gotten it is very minimal. And I think it goes back to the ethics that a lot of these social workers have. They have expressed it to me, some of them have expressed it to me. It is an ethical dilemma they face because while they want to go on strike and they believe the strike action is a worthy cause, they also feel a sense of obligation to their clients. You know what it is like, even as a parent, you have somebody out there depending on you to feel better, to get through a bad experience, to go from a bad place to a better place.  You have that sense of obligation to want to do something to bring them out of that situation. I can fully understand and appreciate what these social workers are going through, that dilemma they have, and it shows in the absence. It is very few. So, I am grateful to them for that, and it demonstrates their commitment. And I want to ensure that commitment to our people, continuously.”