{"id":10857,"date":"2016-12-16T08:00:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T08:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10857"},"modified":"2016-12-16T12:54:35","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T12:54:35","slug":"working-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10857","title":{"rendered":"Working holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While most people will spend time with their friends and family over the Christmas season, nearly a million workers will have to work.<\/p>\n

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Among these are faith workers, many of whom do not have days off over the festive period and get no extra pay.<\/p>\n

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But as Canon Steven Saxby, a vicar who also serves as Unite chair for the Faith Workers Branch explains, clergy are not motivated by money.<\/p>\n

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Still, their pay is modest and like so many people, has taken a hit over the years because of the ever increasing cost of living. Because of this, the TUC have calculated they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve experienced a real terms \u00c2\u0141800 pay cut from last year.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOn average we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had a pay increase of 1 per cent but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not enough to keep up with inflation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Saxby explains.<\/p>\n

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He notes too that, for example, the Church of England sets pay according to national guidelines, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s local variation on pay since the stipend level is up to each diocese.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still lots to be thankful for because we get many benefits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Saxby says. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re provided with housing in tied accommodation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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This can be a blessing and a challenge, since clergy mostly live in the homes they are provided with, which are often big, so at this time of year, their heating bills can get quite high.<\/p>\n

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While Christmas may be a time of joy and good cheer, Saxby explains that it can be challenging for faith workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMany of us may be surrounded by friends and family, but let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not forget too that Christmas can be a very lonely time of year for just as many people,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFaith workers are at the frontline dealing with Christmas loneliness, helping people who are also very vulnerable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have many people come in who may have lost a loved one during the Christmas season, so we support those who are grieving, too.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is of course rewarding to be supporting and comforting them but it can also be very stressful and emotionally draining,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Saxby added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bMost of us want to just relax at home over Christmas but for us that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an option.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although clergy aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t usually associated with unions in the public mind, Unite actually represents over 1,500 faith workers, and Saxby explains the branch is incredibly diverse.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNot only do we have Christian faith workers but people of all religions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c imams, rabbis and more.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One challenge faced by clergy from an industrial point of view is that they are not considered employees, but are classified as office-holders, and so do not have many of the employment rights that most of us do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the Unite Faith Workers Branch has risen to this challenge by pushing for employment protections from their churches.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe seek these protections from our churches on a voluntary basis,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Saxby explains. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have had lots of conversations and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been very fruitful \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made great progress on things like \u00e2\u20ac\u0098duty of care\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, on mediations and on disciplinary processes.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saxby wishes all Unite members a very happy Christmas. You can find out more about Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Faith Workers Branch here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While most people will spend time with their friends and family over the Christmas season, nearly a million workers will have to work.   Among these are faith workers, many of whom do not have days off over the festive period and get no extra pay.   But as Canon Steven Saxby, a vicar who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[648,293],"wps_subtitle":"Faith workers are on the front line this Christmas","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10859,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10857\/revisions\/10859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}