St Vincent de Paul wants its low-paid charity shop workers to accept a wage increase below cost-of-living rises and just over half of what the Catholic Church is calling on employers to foot.
The 3.5 per cent pay increase proposed in its enterprise agreement negotiations is also below the 5.1 per cent rise the government has said low-paid Australians should receive to stave off inflation, with the retail workers’ union accusing the NSW arm of the nationwide non-profit of being uncharitable.
A spokesman for the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW said the charity already paid staff more than the industry award, and employees had access to salary packaging that reduced taxable income and increased their gross pay rate to 19 per cent above the award. The Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations, representing the church, made a submission to the annual review to lift the national minimum wage by 6.5 per cent, the highest recommended figure before the industrial umpire as it deliberates over the wage floor.Stephen Mackie, speaking to the Fair Work Commission on behalf of the Catholic Church last month, said any dollar saved from paying parents on the national minimum wage – currently $20.