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‘Now we’re only seeing families and adults when it hits a crisis point’
On World Social Work Day, Steve Sweeney talks to JOHN McGOWAN, general secretary of the Social Workers Union, about the challenges facing the sector caused by increasing poverty and why specialised unions have a lot to offer
The Social Workers Union’s first elected general secretary John McGowan

“THERE’S a real thirst for trade unionism within the social work community now,” John McGowan tells me.

This is perhaps unsurprising given the huge cuts faced by local authorities under government austerity measures that have seen services slashed and driven more and more people into poverty.

McGowan knows this only too well. He is a product of Edinburgh’s tough council estates, counting Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh as a neighbour.

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