Archbishop accused of hypocrisy

The Archbishop of Canterbury is facing accusations of hypocrisy after it emerged that the Church of England uses zerohours contracts and invests in Amazon despite his attack on both in a speech this week.

The Most Rev Justin Welby was told to ‘‘practise what he preaches’’ after The Times found that the church advises its parishes to issue zero-hours contracts to workers and is advertising for roles that use them.

Welby told the TUC conference this week that ‘‘the gig economy, zero-hours contracts, is simply the reincarnation of an ancient evil’’. The official church website run by the Archbishops’ Council, of which Archbishop Welby is the joint president, includes guidance that tells parishes to use zero-hours contracts when employing staff on ‘‘variable’’ hours. Two Church of England cathedrals are advertising zero-hour roles, while church dioceses and schools also use them.

A Church of England spokesman said that ‘‘as a responsible employer, the church is now reviewing its working practices’’.

The archbishop singled out Amazon for censure in his speech, criticising the company for ‘‘paying almost nothing in tax’’ and for not paying the living wage. Amazon is named as one of the Church Commissioners’ 20 biggest equity investments, which together were valued at £556 million (NZ$1.1b) at the end of last year. That suggests it may own many millions of pounds in Amazon shares. – The Times