Trade union wants better protection for God’s workers
Symon Hill learns about attempts to improve conditions for staff in religious employment
The treatment of staff in religious organisations is under the spotlight, following an anti-bullying campaign launched by a trade union representing thousands of ministers and priests. In addition, Church Action on Poverty (CAP) says that many faith groups are still failing to pay a living wage. Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union, said last week that it deals with about 150 cases of clergy bullying each year. The union’s campaign was described as ‘a wake-up call to those in authority who can make a difference’ by Rachael Maskell, national officer of Unite’s Faith Workers’ Branch, which has around 2,500 members.
She told the Friend that faith groups often operate on a basis of implicit trust and that ‘where that trust breaks, the person is deeply wounded’.
Over half of Friends House staff are members of Unite, although they are not part of the Faith Workers’ Branch, which mostly covers professional ministers and priests. It is not known how many Quaker wardens, or other staff employed by Local Meetings, are members of trades unions.
Quakers are in a different position to those churches with paid clergy, as an anomaly in the law means that clergy are not recognised as employees. They are therefore not legally entitled to basic employment rights in areas such as health and safety, disciplinary procedures and freedom from unfair dismissal.
However, CAP says that the issue is not confined to clergy alone but that all staff employed by religious organisations should be entitled to expect decent treatment.
‘We want faith groups to take a lead on these things rather than lagging behind’ explained CAP spokesperson Liam Purcell. ‘They can show the way’.
CAP’s Living Wage campaign calls on religious groups to pay all their staff at least £7 per hour, a sum that the organisation is keeping under review as it monitors the minimum level for a reasonable wage.
Liam Purcell told the Friend that many faith groups, particularly at local level, were refusing to pay this amount. ‘I don’t think it’s in line with Gospel values to be avoiding their responsibilities in this way’, he said.
Many Quaker Meetings find themselves as employers, most commonly of wardens or resident Friends. Concern has at times been expressed that this can leave employment matters in the hands of individuals or committees with little specialist knowledge, although Friends House now offers professional employment training to those concerned.
The framework for action adopted by Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) says that both BYM and Local Meetings should ‘be exemplary employers’.
It adds that Friends ‘have a special opportunity to show how the testimony to equality affects our employment policies and practices, for example by maintaining the low ratio between the earnings of the highest and lowest paid employees and by providing training and development opportunities to all employees who can benefit from them’.
The issue of bad practice in religious employment hit the headlines in the autumn, when Mark Sharpe resigned from his post as a Church of England rector in rural Worcestershire. He says that he was subjected to a campaign of intimidation by parishioners after tackling the parish’s financial problems.
‘It started with the tyres getting slashed’, he explained, ‘[and] ended up with a dog mysteriously dying, the car being smeared with excrement, and broken glass across the driveway’.
The Anglican Diocese of Worcester denies most of Sharpe’s allegations but has declined to comment on the details ahead of a formal hearing.
Speaking at the Trades Union Congress last year, the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, described the issue of bullying as ‘unfinished business’, adding: ‘I’m very glad that it’s flagged up’.
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