A.—7.

REPORT BY CHARLES G. CAMP, NEW ZEALAND EMPLOYERS' DELEGATE.

The Honourable the Minister of Labour, Wellington. Dear SIB, — , 1 , ~ I have the honour to submit the following report upon the twenty-fourth session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva. ~ , , I regret that, owing to the late arrival of the vessel 011 which 1 travelled to Southampton, I did not arrive at Geneva until the early morning of Friday, 3rd June. The Conference opened on Thursday, 2nd June, "1938, and concluded 011 the evening of Wednesday, the 22nd of that month. I attended those sittings of the Conference which my duties as a member of the Committee dealing with the regulation of hours of work and rest periods of professional drivers (and their assistants) of vehicles engaged in road transport permitted. Previous reports furnished by delegates have dealt exhaustively with the history of the International Labour Organization and have also examined in detail the diffeiencc between the terms " Convention " and " Recommendation." I shall not therefore attempt to cover the facts of the position previously recorded. For record and unformity purposes, the matters dealt with at the Conference will be recorded in this statement in the order detailed in the letter forwarded to me from the Department of Labour (6/36/8) of the 30th March, 1938. The Conference on this occasion met in the new building constructed for the Assembly of the League of Nations, and there can be no question but that the improved technical equipment and accommodation generally assisted greatly in facilitating the work of this session There were fifty States represented at the Conference, with a total delegation of 157, including 90 Government delegates, 34 employers' delegates, and 33 workers' delegates. The total number of advisers was 259, including 122 Government advisers, 60 employers' advisers, and 77 workers' advisers. The total number of accredited persons attending the Conference was 416. In this connection it should be noted that the following sixteen States were represented by Government delegates only: Afghanistan, Albania, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Lithuania, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Siam, and Turkey. TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND APPRENTICESHIP. Following the established practice, the agricultural and mercantile marine industries were not included in the discussion. A Committee composed, in accordance with the Riddell-Tzaut system, of sixty members (thirty Government delegates each having one vote, and fifteen employers' delegates and fifteen workers' delegates each having two votes). The discussions of this Committee were based 011 the grey report submitted by the International Labour Office, and consisting of three parts: — (1) Dealing with vocational and technical education (pre-apprenticeship, vocational, and technical schools, supplementary education). (2) Dealing with apprenticeship (regulation of apprenticeship, &c.). (3) Dealing with vocational retraining for unemployed persons. It was decided, by 110 votes to nil, to place this question on the agenda of the 1939 session of the Conference. The employers' delegates, with the exception of those representing the United States of America, France, Poland, India, and Sweden, refrained from voting on this question. I submit hereunder some of the reasons which led to this decision:— (a) The draft conclusions did not raise the question of vocational guidance. (b) It was considered more flexibility to the various points submitted to Governments was necessary. (c) The participation in the supervision of apprenticeship by the various occupational organizations was strongly opposed. (d) The vocational retraining of unemployed persons was rejected. The employers' reasons are dealt with at length in the Provisional Record No. 23. REGULATION OF CONTRACTS OF EMPLOYMENT OF INDIGENOUS WORKERS. The Committee set up to review this question consisted of sixteen members, appointed in accordance with the Riddell-Tzaut system (eight Government delegates, four employers' delegates, and four workers' delegates). The grey report reviewed the problems of this question under twelve separate chapters, as follows: — (1) Nature and scope of the question on the agenda. (2) Contracts required to be in writing. (3) Contents of the contract. (4) Administrative supervision of the conclusion of the contract. (5) Medical examination. (6) Conclusion of contracts by women, young persons, and children. (7) Length of contracts.

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