Unison has launched a poster campaign to highlight the impact of the government spending cuts, with this image showing an easily-recognisable refuse collector and a librarian, roles considered under threat. But hang on, who's the woman on the left?

Apparently it's a social worker!

Seems that social workers are the only public servants who are impossible to portray without a label indicating who they are, and perhaps this goes to the heart of the profession's public image problem - there's a real lack of public understanding about their role as a result.

The gloomy message of Unison's campaign is matched by her funereal outfit of a dark suit and white blouse - one esteemed colleague felt she could even be mistaken for an undertaker.

You might not immediately warm to the portrayal, but when you start to wonder what the alternatives might be (stereotypes have included cardigan-wearing professionals with clipboards), perhaps the union has got it about right.

Read the complete post at http://www.communitycare.co.uk/blogs/social-work-blog/2011/04/do-social-workers-wear-suits.html