The current president, Cheung Kwok-che is the member in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

The SWGU was founded in 1980 after the movement demanded the government to take efforts to resettle the boat people in Yaumatei's harbour.

Many social workers supported the affected residents and were arrested under the Public Order Ordinance in 1979.

The social workers leading the movement felt constrained by their official organisation, the Hong Kong Social Workers' Association because it worked cooperatively with the government and did not approve of activists' involvement with the movement.

[3] In the 2004 LegCo elections, Cheung Kwok-che, President of SWGU successfully gained a seat in the Social Welfare functional constituency.