IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 167, 16 July 1936, Page 6

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

YOUTH AND EMPLOYMENT. '

UNDER-RATE WAGE PROBLEM,

(To the Editor.)

Two items in Tuesday's issue of tlie "Star," a report of statements made by Mr. D. Henry, president of the Auckland Manufacturers' Association, and a letter by Mr. H. Wiggins, the former entitled "Youths Doomed," and the latter "Plight of Unskilled Youth," merit comparative consideration. Mr. Henry sponsors a subsidy scheme for employers who would he prepared to train youths who have been unable in the depression years to enter a trade, and also mentions that in an impending award in the typographical trade a suggestion is made that employers be empowered to take 011 men who have been long unemployed at two-thirds of the a warn wage for twelve n1 on tils',' "wiie'i l they could be dismissed if unsatisfactory. Mr. Wiggins wants the Government to organise a system of "highly practical training" and a "quick one," at as low a cost as possible, presumably to employers. I am sympathetic with some sentiments of each author, but my variant contentions may be best illustrated by the following: A linotype operator, a conscientious and highly efficient worker, has for some years been employed on a newspaper -which for reasons of declining circulation ceases publication. With other breadwinners he is of necessity dismissed. He endeavours to earn a living at "casual labour outside the trade, recognising the limited prospects of employment therein in the near future. To-day, with tlie generally improved outlook, he hopes to obtain a position * in his trade from which, like the young men mentioned by Mr. Henry, he was dismissed through tlie fault of neither himself nor his employers. Surely young men such as these deserve equal if not greater consideration now that we "have turned the corner." Might I question whether Mr. Henry would wish to have the two-thirds award wage limit applied to a man who had been sufficiently energetic and foresighted to "keep his hand and eye in" - to be in a position of attaining his one-time efficiency in. say, one or two weeks' employment back in his trade? Give the slacker liis due. but also give the conscientious worker his full reward, not "two-thirds." TYPO.