APPRENTICESHIP

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20738, 23 February 1939, Page 13

APPRENTICESHIP

MOTOR ENGINEERING NORTHERN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT NEW CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT A now Arbitration Court orrlcr govern,in: the conditions of employment of apprentices in the motor engineering trade in tl*: Northern industrial District came into force at the beginning of this week, providing for increased wages, the prohibition of apprenticeship premiums, restrictions on overtime and the age of apprentices, stated Mi- It. P. Smith, Hamilton branch secretary to the General Engineering Union yesterday. The new order, said Mr Smith, provided for the setting-up of an apprenticeship committee to which any employer must first apply for its approval before taking any apprentice to learn the trade of a motor-mechanic. The personnel of this committee is In comprise two, or three, representatives each from the employees' union and the employers' association, actirjg in conjunction with the district inspector of factories. The union representatives, added Mr Smith, have already been appointed. Minimum Age-limit The order provides that the minimum age at which a person may commence to serve as an apprentice shall be 15 years and the maximum age for commencement 18 years. The. term of apprenticeship and Hie proportion of apprentices to journeymen remains unaltered under the new order, said Mr Smith, but the wages-rates for apprentices have been increased to tiie following:—First six months. 10s; with 4s increases each six-monthly period up to the end of the five-year term. The order provides for the attendance of apprentices at night-school, where such instruction is necessary, and the employer is not permitted to have an apprentice work overtime on ! any night when he should be attendj ing night-school. Apprentices under 18 are not to be permitted to j work overtime for more than six | hours in any one week (under 20, ! not more than 10 hours in any one I week]. I No employer may employ an apI prentice unless his shop or garage is, 1 in the opinion of the committee, suffiI ciently equipped to train apprentices, and no premium in respect to the employment of an apprentice is to he i paid to or received by an employer, j A special clause provides that the , provisions of the new order shall not necessarily apply in the case of a special contract of apprenticeship, entered into under the provisions of Section 7 of the Statutes Amendment Act, 11*36 providing for the employment of adult apprentices), j The powers of Hie committee, con- : eluded Mi* Smith, are exercisable within a radius of 20 miles of the Chief Post Office, Hamilton, and the New order operates as from February | 20, 1939.