APPRENTICES ACT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 296, 6 March 1928, Page 1

APPRENTICES ACT

WORK OF COMMITTEE MUCH PATCHING-UP The operations of the Auckland Apprenticeship Committee in the en- I gineering trades, so far a< they have gone, have been in the direction of patching up differences between employers and apprentices, but the president of the New Zealand Federation of Ironmasters. Mr. H. M. Warner, considers that valuable work has been accomplished in this direction. “No difficulty has been found in ad- j ministering the Apprentices Act,’’ he told the conference of ironmasters at Auckland this morning. “Should any question of principle be involved in anything brought before the committee on which the ideas of the union and of the employers would be divided, it is possible that a deadlock would i occur. So far nothing of this sort has i arisen. “No great benefit from the amend- j ment made to the Act during the last i session of Parliament, -abolishing th€ ; district quota of apprentices as from February, has been felt so far. This; j may be put down to the general slackness in trade, but when business revives the ability of each employer to ! take on his full individual quota oi: apprentices will be a distinct advantage.” The conference was opened by the Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, who spoke of the benefit to an industry which efficient organisation produced, and J assured the delegates that the importance of their particular trade to the j

community was fully appreciated. He welcomed the visitors to the city, and wished' them a happy time in the North.

The conference later settled to the discussion of routine business and the consideration of the annual report. The report stated that the iron trade had suffered severely from the general depression which had afflicted the Dominion as a whole.

“While a certain amount of jobbing and repair work is always available.” it stated, “there has been considerable unemployment and the manufacturing section has suffered severely. There are now, however, hopeful signs for the future. Our primary products are fetching better prices on the whole than were obtained last year, and even although the improvement may be temporary the increased income from this source will assist to restore better trading conditions.”