A shortage of qualified staff has forced social workers in Glasgow to demand better pay and conditions.
UNISON social work stewards meet this week to consider how best to pursue their claim.
The issue concerns social workers throughout Scotland. Following a number of recent child deaths, the Sunday Herald investigated the state of our social services.
It found that Scotland has more than 2000 children deemed at risk of abuse, neglect and death.
Yet only seven out of the 32 council social work teams say they are staffed to cope with the crisis.
Aberdeen Council had 172 child protection cases on register but only two social workers dealing with them.
There has been a big rise in the number of children referred to the Children's Panels because of poverty. Last year they dealt with more than 28,000 cases where child welfare, rather than crime, was the issue.
A social work boss in South Lanarkshire Council has admitted:
"Staff are under strain and recruitment is a growing problem."
In Glasgow, 30 of the 185 social work posts are vacant and applications for social work courses are down 50 per cent.
The Scottish Executive claims to have child-centred policies but they are to blame for the shortages of qualified staff.
Their response to the staffing crisis is to turn to the private sector and rely on religious and voluntary organisations
An Inverclyde social worker told the Voice:
"Social work has been centralised in large teams, distant from working class communities.
"Qualified staff are increasingly stuck behind desks doing paperwork, unable to carry out the job they are meant to.
"The shortage of trained staff means an increased workload for already over-stretched workers.
"A Children's Reporter recently revealed that there are currently 50 unfilled vacancies in Glasgow and over 200 vulnerable families have no allocated worker.
"The press and politicians blame social workers. No wonder there's a shortage.
"The numbers of staff applying to train is also falling. Undergraduate training can mean three years' study with no grant.
"Unqualified staff who leave their job to train, return to worse conditions because they lose continuous service.
"Staff are leaving social work because they are fed up."
Better pay and conditions would halt this trend.
Some councils realise this and are using financial incentives to poach qualified staff.
But this doesn't tackle the overall shortage. Ronnie Stevenson, chairperson of the Glasgow social work shop stewards says:
"We are consulting members about getting better pay and conditions so that we can attract more staff.
"Whether we pursue a local claim or call for a national claim has still to be decided.
"The authorities might limit improvements to qualified workers and their supervisors.
"But as a union we are concerned about improvements for all grades."
There have been calls for a McCrone type enquiry as in teaching, but this is a dead end.
Collective action can win better pay and conditions and force the politicians to provide a better service to the people who need it.