"QUOTA FULL."

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 87, 13 April 1927, Page 18

"QUOTA FULL."

APPRENTICES IN TRADES.

ANOMALOUS CONDITIONS.

EMPLOYERS TO APPEAL.

There are a number of instances in Auckland to-day where employers, desirous of employing lads to learn a trade, cannot take on apprentices because the quota of apprentices for the whole district is full. This position has given rise to much comment, and there is every likelihood of the Arbitration Court being appealed to shortly by employers who consider that in the interests of their businesses and the future welfare of lads leaving schools the provisions of the Apprentices Act should be altered. What is to become of the boys (and girls) who finish their schooling each year is a problem that has received considerable prominence during the past few months, but the solution is just as far oil' as ever. This is the universal opinion of those in close touch with industrial matters, and in conversation to-day more than one authority, while admitting that the Apprentices Act had done considerable good, contended that for the Arbitration Court to fix the district quota of apprentices to journey men in the various trades was not in the best interests of employer or boy. A Case of Hardship. It was emphasised that the Court fixes the proportion of • apprentices to journeymen to be allowed in any particular trade in a certain district, not the number of apprentices to be allowed in certain shops, factories, or whatever it may be. Instances of the hardship imposed by this are to be found in more than one trade, but the experience of a plumber puts the position clearly. At present he is carrying on business in the city and is not only anxious to engage, but really needs an apprentice in his shop. In accordance with the provisions of the Apprentices Act he applied to the Registrar of Apprentices for permission to register a lad as an apprentice, but received a reply that registration had been refused, "on the grounds that the proportion of the total number of apprentices to the total number of journeymen employed in the industry in the district had been exceeded."

In other words, the position is that no matter how big a business he has, or how many journeymen he employs, he cannot have an apprentice, because the district quota as fixed by the Arbitration Court is full. Thus not only is a hardship imposed upon the employer, but the prospects of tlie lad being given the opportunity to learn a trade are considerably lessened. Appeal Against Ruling. It is to this state of affairs that employers in certain industries are taking exception. The Registrar of Apprentices is not responsible. He merely allow? apprentices to any trade as provided under the Act. But his decisions have to be complied with, and in order to bring the matter before the Arbitration Court, it is understood more than one employer will lodge an appeal against the registrar's ruling.