SKILLED AND UNSKILLED LABOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1921, Page 4

SKILLED AND UNSKILLED LABOR.

Mr. P. J. O’Regan recently asserted in the Arbitration Court that “there is no such thing as unskilled labor, and never was.” If he were really serious—which is open to doubt—the assertion displayed a deplorable misconception on his part of the meaning of simple words. The fault is a common one. Skill, knack, dexterity and aptitude all have a direct bearing on labor operations, but each term has a different meaning. Mr. O’Regan is probably aware of the real meaning of “skilled” labor as well as of unskilled. He contended that even shovelling dirt in a gravel pit was skilled work; yet it would be an insult to his intelligence to take him at his word. Without examining his contention from a philological point of view, the commonly accepted meaning of a skilled worker implies that he has been taught his trade, theoretically and practically, by apprenticeship or otherwise, and become a skilled operator. Man, as Carlyle aptly stated, is a tool-using animal, and it is according to the use he makes of tools that his degree of skill is judged. The handling of a shovel is mere knack that can be acquired without tuition. Not so the work of making parts of a machine so that it will run smoothly and function satisfactorily Plumbers have to undergo an examination before obtaining a license, a safeguard to the health of the community against the results of unskilled and defective workmanship. It is the veriest nonsense to class all workers as skilled men. It may suit the unionists' policy, but it will neither equalise wages nor abolish the well-defined distinction between the two classes of labor. It is ■hardly likely the skilled workers will subscribe to Mr. O’Regan’s doctrine.