EMPLOYING THE SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 62, 6 December 1917, Page 6

EMPLOYING THE SOLDIERS

SUSPENSION OF AWARDS

WHAT THE PHOPOSALS MEAN EXPLANATION BY MR. HERMAN

The principal features of the regulations published yesterday morning suspending the provisions of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitraton Act, 190S, and its amendments, and of all awards .and industrial agreements in so far as they prevent or restrict the training and employment of discharged soldiers in certain industries, were explained by the Attoruey-Genoral (tho Hon. A. L. Herdman) to a representative of The Dominion last evening. "The Order-in-Council which has been passed by the Executive Council," said Mr. Herdn.an, "is intended to perform two separate and distinct functions. Clauses 8 and 9 call for little explanation. They re-enact an Order-in-Council dated January 31, 1916, which provided facilities for the employment of discharged soldiers, notwithstanding the restrictions and conditions created by any industrial awaru or agreement. , Tha Prooedure. "Tho remainder of the Order-in-Coun-cil is new and merits tho careful consideration of discharged soldiers and of the public, for its object is to provide a means by which a discharged soldier who is disabled or partly disabled may be trained in a trade or industry. To enable a discharged soldier to secure the advantages offered, the Order-in-Council provides that he must make application for training and employment to the Minister in Charge of the Discharged Soldiers Department. It then becomes tho duty of the Minister to make inquiries about the applicant, and if the investigation proves satisfactory the Minister transmits the application to an inspector of factories, who is authorised to issue a temporary permit to tho soldier to be trained and omployed in the industry. If, beforb tho expiry of the temporary permit, the applicant desires, and the oniployer is willing, to continue the training or emplojunent, the inspsctor, after giving the union connected with the trade or industry a reasonable opportunity of expressing its views, may issue to the applicant a permit to be trained and employed in the industry at such rate of wages as he thinks fit. "An attempt is made through tho medium oFthis Order-in-Council—

"1. To provide the discharged soldier with facilities for the learning of a trade or industry upon the premises in which that trade or industry is carried on. "2. To guard the discharged soldier from exploitation by any employer. "3. To enable industrial unions to' show cause why, upon the ground of overcrowding or upon any other reasonable ground, a discharged soldier should not be employed and trained in the industiy with which it is concerned. Something Already Done. "The Discharged Soldiers Information Department- has for a long time recognised that the discharged soldier who may be converted into a competent tradesman by State assistance will be of value to the State, and will be independent as long as he is physic-vlly able to follow the occupation which he has been taught. The Department s difficulty has been to induce men to learn trades. We made a beginning months ago by offering to provide tree tuition at technical schools and on the State farms, and, later on, in the case of men wishing to learn trades at technical schools, we undortoolc to provide £1 a week over and above the war pension to cover the board and lodging of approved soldier students. Under this svstem 63 discharged soldiers enrolled for tuition m the schools of the Dominion, and each ol these men received the £1 a week to which I have referred. Of these Gd men 12 were placed in employment as a result of tuition received at the schools, 9 left the classes to take employment offered to them, and the remaining 42 men are still attending the schools. The trades in which the 6o men have been trained are as follows Machine drawing, 2; . electrical a-n(« mechanical engineering, 6; bookkeeping and commercial course, 25; wireless telegraphy, 1; wool classing, 13; school teaching, 1; agricultural course (not including men receiving tuition on State farms)" 1; motor mechanics (not including a few men being specially trained as chauffeurs at Auckland), 11; draughtsmen, 2; plumbing, 1. "The trades in which the 21 men referred to as having either been placed in or left to take up employment are as' follow Electrical and mechanical engineering, 2; bookkeeping and commercial course, 8; wireless telegraphy, 1; wool classing, 6; motor mechanics, 3; draughtsman, 1.

Plenty of Safeguards. "The Order-in-Cfluncil just made is another step in advance. It aims at teaching the mail a trade or a-'branch of a trade within the environment ol the trade itself. To induce disabled soldiers to embrace the offer of help made by the Government, Cabinet has generously authorised me to agree with the soldier that whilst being trained to a trade he may be paid, in addition to any wage agreed upon by an inspector of factories with the employer, aftei consultation with the secretary of the union concerned with the trade, the difference between that wage and the minimum wage in the trade, or the sum of £3 a week, whichever amount is the smaller. . "This authority has been given subject to tlie following conditions:— "1. The amount which the Government offers to pay shall only he paid to the soldier upon the Department being satisfied that his conduct is good, and that he is making satisfactory progress. "2. The officer in charge of the Discharged Soldiers Department will hold a portion of the amount mentioned in the preceding paragraph until the termination of the period of training, when it will lie paid over to the soldier as a bonus, provided that his conduct has been rrood and his work satisfactorj'. "3. Except with the consent of the Minister in Charge of the Discharged Soldiers Department, the period of training shall not extend beyond 12 months. "4. The employer under whom a soldiery is being trained wil . jie asked, when the Department thinks it is necessary, to furnish reports upon the disabled soldiers work and conduct. , "5 It shall he competent tor a representative of the Discharged Soldiers Information Department, or for an inspector of factories acting on belialf of that Department, to enter the premises m which a discharged soldier is hejnc trained for the purpose of inspecting the work upon which tho . soldier is engaged and of questioning him about the progress lie is making.

understanding I n'isli to emphasise two matters: —

"1. A soldier's pension is not and cannot bo interfered with by my Department. The pecuniary assistance offered by the State is in addition to any sum to which tho discharged soldier niav be entitled by way of pension, and is intended to tempt a disabled man to learn a, trade. "2. Tho help which the Stateoffors is open to disabled soldiors only. Tho soldier who returns to New Zealand suffering from no serious disability can Tely upon, the cordial help of tho Department to. get suitable work, but we cannot undertake to teach him a

trade. "Steps will be taken to make returned solaiers and our local committees conversant with the details of tbo scheme. It is hoped that tho Department's effort will induce many men to avoid tho 'soft billet' and tho 'temporary job.' and prompt them to become masters of occupations which will supply them with a healthy interest in life, make them valuable citizens of the Dominion, and enable them to earn a eomfortablo competence. "It has been suggested that the State should provide special institutions for tho training of soldiers. I am Quite prepared to rec/immend the Government to provide money for such a purpose if the need for it is evident. We are advised by British authorities to make use of existing institutions and our owu experience has Droved that the man who.has survived the perils of this war prefers to commence his civilian life again in the locality in which his relatives and friends reside. I. thereFore hold the view that the many technical colleges established in New Zealand are sufficient for present needs. If it be found necessary to supplement their bresent equipment J shall have pleasure in asking the Minister of Education to give the matter' his consideration. I. think that it, is wiser to spend a miderate sum in the direction of improving our technical schools for sol-dier-trainine purposes them +o exneud n biKre sum linon a larfe soldiers' institute at which probably only a few sol'l'Ts would attend.

"Finally. I express the hope that tho omnlovors of New Zealand and the various labour nnions will assist th?> Discharged SoWors Information Denartment with their nTfotical licln and sympathy, and so render a real beln to soni" of the men whose services on our hohnlf in th« i-nr can never be adequately appraised."