APPRENTICES ACT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 178, 18 October 1927, Page 14

APPRENTICES ACT

FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS NEXT SESSION CONFERENCE IN RECESS (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Monday. Further improvements to the Apprentices Act may be made next session, in addition to those made in the Bill now before the House of Representatives, according to a statement made by the Hon. G. J. Anderson, Minister of Labour, this evening, when the Labour Bills Committee recommended that the Apprentices Amendment Bill should be allowed to proceed without amendment. Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, asked the Minister to give some indication of his intentions regarding the measure, as some of the trade unions looked upon it as a breach of an agreement already made. There was unanimity of opposition to the Bill, and it was doubtful whether even employers were strongly in favour of it.. Mr. Anderson assured Mr. Holland that there had been no breach of agreement in any way. It was not taking away from the court any of its powers except as regarded the district quota. The amendment was widely recommended and was of immediate importance, so it was being put through this session, and he intended to have a conference during the recess to see if other parts of the measure could not be improved. Sir John Luke, chairman of the committee, said that all care had been taken to see that all interested parties were given an opportunity of giving evidence. An essential feature

was to provide employment for young men, who should be encouraged to learn a trade. If care was not taken the difficulty would be to fill up the gaps caused by journeymen leaving trades. The Bill did not in any way violate principles of the Act but merely made it more workable.