If the skydive club is prepared to let someone fly their plane with minimal hours, and they get valuable experience in return, it seems like a fair trade off
This is the opinion of most skydive operators I've ever met.
Why is allowing a CPL holder to fly a basic aircraft such a privilege? These operators need people to fly their planes, and CPL holders are appropriately trained and qualified to do so. There is certainly no special privilege regardless of how many hours you have, in my opinion.
johnwells3366, it may be true that the industry has already been damaged by pilots before you, but there's also a sense of self worth. Paying for an endorsement or working for free might get you closer to your dream job, but you know you've played a part in damaging the interests of pilots.
As a low hour pilot, I had been offered two pilot positions within skydiving companies. One operator insisted that his hourly payment was hours in his crappa 182, the other required me to pay quite a few thousand dollars in endorsement training. Although taking either of these positions would have definitely put me forward in my career (possibly more so than now), I refuse to work for free by principle only.