COACHBUILDERS' CONFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3049, 10 April 1917, Page 9

COACHBUILDERS' CONFERENCE

YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS. The anuual convention of the New Zealand Coach and Motor Vehicle Trades Federation was continued yesterday. 'l'lio president (Mr. George Dash) was in the chair, and the following delegates wore present: Messrs. E. C. Harvie (secretary), F. A. Drayton and N. Kennody (Christchurch), W. J. Birrell, J. "W. Scurr, (Dunedin), H. Hurrell and N. Donoghuo (Petone), T. House. 1). H. Taylor, 0. B. Paish, W. G. Fitchett (Wellington), 31. A. Whitaker (South Auckland), L. Joll, W. J. O'Hara, C. Cooper, W. A. Hairison (Auckland), J. Lock (Gore), Robert A. Dunn (Balclutha), James 0. Matthews (Invercargill), R. A. Fuller (Palmerston North), W. H. Jones (Wanganui), G. 0. Spurdle (Inglewood). The conference discussed m committee the present award in the coachbuilding industry, and its relation to war_ problems. The chairman of the National Efficiency Board (Mr. ,W. Ferguson) was present 1 during th<; morning, and addressed the delegates. Mr. L. Joll (Auckland) read a paper on the subject, "Business Efficiency." He said that it had to be admitted, in the coaclibuilding industry as well as in other industries, that tne highest standard of efficiency had not been reached either by employers or by employees. Businesses had been run on rule-of-thumb methods;'work had been taken at prioes that were not profitable, owing to iaok of thorough methods of accounting, and then coachbuilders had been tempted 'to do inferior work in order to save themselves from loss. Inferior work was discouraging to the workers, who did not got the opportunity to develop the best what was ,in . them. Mr. Joll urged that there ivas need for the continuous study of improved, methods, and for the application to the New Zealand industry of the best lessons that could be drawn,'from other countries. He advocated increased attention to office work, correspondence, and accounts. Tho. employers needed the co-operation-of the, workers if'they were to get the results, and this cooperation was to be secured by culti-1 vating a spirit -of comradeship in the shops, and by showing the men that it was to their advantage to have tho work done in the bost possible way. In conclusion, Mr. Joll said that national efficiency -waseverybody's business, and it ought to be everybody's study. Efficiency in a particular trade was a step: towards efficiency in the life of the nation. ~.. . , . ■ ; A paper placed before the conference by Mr. W. Black dealt :with the training of tradesmen. The labour market, said Mr. Black, was now 'shori of boys. The time had passed when an employer was able to demand a premium for teaching a boy a trade. The difficulty was to got boys to.learn the trades, and there was an obvious necessity for efforts to make the N skilled trades more attractive to boys in the earlier stages. It was to the advantage of the whole industry to produce skilled craftsmen, and the boys should be paid for what they learned rather than for what they earned. In other words, the boys should have better pay, and, at the same timo they should'have increased facilities, at the expense of- the industry, for technical study; The paper emphasised the importance of technical education. ■ v, A paper contributed by Mr. Boob (Christchurch) dealt with "Quotations for New Work." The papers produced some interesting discussions. The conference will meet again to-day.