ENGINEERING APPRENTICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 219, 13 September 1923, Page 5

ENGINEERING APPRENTICES.

TOO MANY OFFERING. j I MAXY MEN CXKIIPLOVEU. j —■ — ! In a conversation on ihe Apprentices' Bill with Mr. R. K. Barter, secretary o< the Amalgamated Enjinc-cr-s" t'nion, llii- ! morning that p-rntlenian issued a •■variiinjr to parents who had thought* of put- | tinpf their sons to onsineerinsr.

•'At the present time," >uiu MY. Barter to a. "Star"' representative , . "this trade is easily the worst of all, and the i reason is that the RwaH allows of to■> j many apprentices. The employer* have | been stating that there are not enough [ apprentices, but this is not true, and in I srrae shops in Auckland there are from j IS to 20 apprentices and only four men at the present time. !n almost every j other trade the award provider for one ■ apprentice to three journeymen, hut in I engineering two apprentices are allowed to one journeyman." , ''And is there a scarcity of ■ •mployraent in the trade at present:"' asked the interviewer. ''It was never worse. Here is tno I book which will show you a li--t of j just over 100 unemployed at the moment and moat of these men have served their apprenticeship. There is not a jol> or even a hope of a job for these men." "Are any of the men recent arrivals from England ?" "Are they? Last treek i entered five new arrivals on the book of the uneui- j ployed, and in the last *i.\ month? 27 I' men have given up the trade altogether and looked for other work. Of these 17 were new arrivals in Auckland within t.he past twelve months, and they have ! cost the Auckland Union just over £,"00. You sec they are entitled to 10/ per week when out of employment, and it wjll give an idea oi the work ■.ilTeriusr when the union has paid out the amount mentioned." '"And your advice to parents is not to send their boys to learn engineering:'" "Absolutely. Under the present award which allows two apprentices u> on" tradesman there is no possibility of them R.ll being able to find employment when they are out of their time. And the ranks being swelled by new arrivals does not make the outlook any more promising, 1 can tell you." Subsequent inquiries made by the I "Star" representative at enjrineerilifj j firms bore out the statement that the I trade is rather quiet at present, and that j many applications for employment were \ received. On the question of whether ton j many apprentices were allowed the firms would express no opinion, but admitted j that the engineering trade had a fascitis.- ! lion for lads leaving school, which for | some reason not understood did not I apply to other callings. =<= j