By Natalia Salinas
This past summer the National Board voted to replace all our bylaws with a charter that grants them sole authority over all decisions for our association. This was done in part to implement National’s “Modernization Plan.” There is controversy over this significant change as chapters are now merely “advisory boards” rather than independent decision making bodies. This article aims to add to this discussion and is also in response to The Elephant in the Room article dated 8/15/16 that suggested that the changes by National were necessary due to NASW’s continued loss in membership.
Brief History
1955: After five years of negotiation, NASW was formed by seven national social work organizations. The Delegate Assembly (DA) was created as a democratic decision making body of the Association to ensure all NASW Chapters had a voice and that there was a balance of power within the organization. The DA structure was inherited from the American Association of Social Workers. The DA would meet periodically to decide key policy and governance issues for the organization. The first DA meeting was in St. Louis in May 1956. At that time, there were 21,000 members and 250 delegates.
Since 1955 the Association grew continuously eventually going from 21,000 members to 150,000 members; however, the number of delegates remained about the same. Sometime after 2001 membership numbers started to plummet. We are now at 130,297 members.
What Happened?
In 2001, an outside consulting firm hired by National proposed a major restructuring of the Association. In 2002 several new models for restructuring the DA are proposed and some of these changes are implemented. By 2008 the DA goes virtual leading to widespread dissatisfaction, disconnection and confusion among delegates.
In 2008, the DA voted to make all Executive Director’s delegates and shifted all bylaws amendment authority from the DA to the National Board of Directors with the exception of the bylaws concerning the DA itself and the dues sharing formula between Chapters and National.
By 2011 there starts to be a bigger and clearer divide between what National wants and what delegates want for the Association. In 2014, an attempt (orchestrated by National) to eliminate the DA is unsuccessful but leaves many members further dissatisfied with the erosion of our democratic process and the Association as a whole.
To lose 20,000 members in less than 10 years when the Association grew steadily for over 50 years calls to question the decisions that have been made by our Association over the past several years that led to our downturn.
In 2012 NASW California Chapter became concerned with the dropping numbers and conducted a survey of new members to look at the issue more closely. It was found that 23.5 percent of respondents said they joined because they were “In the field/support the industry/good to be a member” and only 10.3 percent said it was for “liability insurance”; 4.4 percent said it was for “discounts and scholarships,” and 2.2 percent said it was for “continuing education units.”
What does it mean to join simply for being in the field or to support the industry or because it is good to be a member? This is an important question since clearly this is more important for social workers than “goods or services” received from the Association.
The Coalition of Concerned Members has a view on this. We believe that if you can’t keep members actually interested and involved, the Association will not be able to grow. National has the view that our Association should mirror the corporate structure of business, thus attracting members through providing more “goods and services.”
Although it is not necessary to change our democratic membership driven Association to provide these goods and services, National continues to force these changes. National says these “changes will position NASW for improved member engagement, financial viability and long-term growth.”
National continues to push forward, despite evidence to the contrary. Their Modernization Plan has caused widespread upset within the Association, a continued freefall in membership numbers, and a growing National deficit.
IF THIS CONCERNS YOU, please join our Social Action Social Justice Council meeting October 14 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at the NASW-CA Annual Conference (no need to be an NASW member to participate).
Objections presented by the http://www.concernedmembersunited.com/ will be discussed. Contact nataliasalinas@concernedmembersunited.com for more information.
There will also be an NASW Modernization Open Forum (facilitated by National) October 14 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m also at the NASW-CA Annual Conference.
