WHAT IS THE AIM?

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 3, 25 March 1927, Page 3

WHAT IS THE AIM?

the apprenticeship act SUGGESTED COMMITTEE The question of the suitability of the present Act and the problem that arises in teaching youths the skilled trades, with due consideration for journeymen and the unemployed crisis. Tvas discussed in a recent interview with Mr. J. Clark, secretary of the Auckland Plumbers’ and Gasfitters’ I'nion. and Mr. H. Campbell, secretary 0 f the Auckland Painters Union. ••To encourage youths to enter skilled trades is not, as some people think, the only and general principle of the Apprentices Act.” commented Mr. Clark, “and in perusing its clauses it is found that the Act was designed for the following purposes: -To ensure an equitable number of apprentices required for each trade. ••To ensure that the apprentice is taught his trade. -To appoint Apprenticeship Committees to ensure that both the employer an d the apprentice carry out their obligations under the contract of apprenticeship. The District Proportion “At the present time there apnears to be an agitation for the abolition of the district proportion of apprentices. so that a larger number of apprentices can be employed under the individual proportion, but in my opinion the district proportion should remain and, where in trades Apprenticeship Committees are established, the individual proportion of apprentices should be left in the hands of these committees, who in most cases are composed of practical men in the industry concerned, who would be in a proper position to judge the most able and suitable employers to teach the apprentices their trade. “It has been found from investigation and experience that the trouble over the proportion of apprentices has arisen owing to the Arbitration Court fixing the individual proportion of apprentices, upon a basis lower than the district proportion, and we also find that where the Arbitration Court has left the fixing of the individual proportion to an Apprenticeship Committee the result has been most satisfactory. Limitation of Apprentices. “The question of the working of the Apprentices Act, and more especially the limitation of the proportion of apprentices to journeymen has been ventilated a good deal lately. Quite a number of good things have been said and quite a number of biased and impossible views have been expressed. It has been said that the Act prevents boys from being apprenticed, but the facts do not bear out that contention. In the majority of trades where committees have been set up, there are more registered apprentices in these trades than ever there were before. The Act was designed to ensure an adequate supply of competent journeymen and the abolition of the district proportion does not get us to that goel. “In the first place it will ensure an added supply of cheap labourers; secondly the apprentice will be self taught, as journeymen cannot attend to the training of apprentices and give value to his employer at the same time. When the apprentice has served his time he will not then be a competent tradesman, but what we to-day call a "dud.” thereby arriving at the opposite conclusion to what the Act intended. If the supply of competent tradesmen is the goal, then the apprentices w’ill have to be placed where they are going to be efficiently trained. The Apprenticeship Committees are mostly composed of practical tradesmen who know the wants of the trade, and also know which firms are capable of training one or more apprentices, according to the facilities at the disposal of the employer. If an employer can train more apprentices than he is actually entitled to there should be no reason why he should not have them, and employers who cannot train apprentices being prohibited from having them. An Apprenticeship Committee

“Instead of the district proportion being abolished, the individual proportion should be left in the hands of the respective committees, as they are best able to judge where the apprentices can be best trained. A certain section of employers have made up their minds that the Act is a failure and are trying in every way to make it so. The Apprenticeship Committees have to use their common-sense in administering the Act. If they do not do that then the Act for them is a failure, and however administered could never be a success,” added Mr. Clark.