La Dignidad Laboral de los/as Profesionales de Trabajo Social en Externados del ICBF

Abstract

This chapter aims to analyze and understand the labor dignity of social workers in the protection sector in ICBF externships in the city of Cali during the 2020 quarantine and the implications that this had on working conditions and in the precariousness of their work. This research was approached from a critical-social perspective because it allowed us to delve into the structural aspects and their relationship with social subjects. The research is of a qualitative nature and its methodology is interpretative, descriptive and exploratory. The way to obtain the research data was through a review and documentary analysis of theorists who address the issue of labor relations and the concept of work under the neoliberal system, in turn, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 3 social workers from ICBF externships in the city of Cali. Likewise, it was possible to demonstrate some findings that denote strong economic, political and social impacts that the pandemic brought with it and the neoliberal dynamics themselves on the dignity and working conditions of Social Workers. Finally, it illustrates how the external factors that influence working conditions such as the institution in which they work and the complex employability conditions play a determining role in terms of the labor dignity of social work professionals, in addition to socio-labour aspects, and economic. Finally, it is concluded thanks to the interviews carried out that, although the working conditions of Social Work professionals have been affected by the current neoliberal model, the pandemic worsened this problem.