BOY LABOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 173, 23 July 1936, Page 17

BOY LABOUR.

APPRENTICES SOUGHT.

"NO SLACKENING OF DEMAND" —— i REPLY TO MR. GRIBBLE. "I think Mr. Gribble should come straight out into the open and state that he wants to introduce trades schools, which the Labour movement will not support," said Mr. A. H. Dixon, secretary of the Auckland Furniture Trades' Union, this morning, in commenting on a suggestion by Air. N. G. Gribble, secretary of .the Auckland Boys' Employment Committee, that the only way to restore a proper understanding between employers and boys was to provide training courses which would allow boys to apply for work in the honest belief that they were worthy of the wages provided for in recent legislation.

Mr. Dixon pointed out that the recent legislation liad not made any material difference to the wages of apprentices, although rightly it was restoring wages to the level which ruled prior to 1931. The legislation fixed the minimum rate at 15/, but it had also to be remembered that that was" the wage prescribed in 1923, when the Apprentices Act was first introduced. The only difference actually was that whereas an increase of 7/0 after the first twelve months was provided previously, to-day, apprentices were to get increments of 4/ every six months—a total of 8/ at the end of the first year's service.

Training of Apprentices. Challenging the suggestion by Mr. Gribble that there was a lack of confidence on the part of both employers and boys behind the apprenticeship question, Mr. Dixon explained that in his trade last year apprenticeship contracts were put through by the Apprentices Committee, which comprised representatives of both the union and the employers, at the rate of one a week, and so far this year approximately another 50 contracts had been dealt with. "I fail to see that a proper understanding does not at present exist," he added, "when employers are already employing these boys and are seemingly anxious to obtain their services. There has been no slackening off in the demand for apprentices, and contracts are only rpfused Iby the committee where it knows that the employer cannot teach a boy the trade or the proportion of apprentices to journeymen is exceeded."

Mr. Dixon said that in numbers of instances his union had been successful in placing boys in shops, which would teach them a trade and fit them for useful service at the completion of their term of apprenticeship. It had been found that in the majority of trades employers usually liked to employ boys with no previous experience, because they had found that if they obtained boys who had a knowledge of other work, they had to set about undoing what others had taught them. These boys were taken on as 6hop boys for a start, and, when they became accustomed to the factory they were elevated to apprenticeship status when vacancics occurred.

Question of Expense. Mr. Dixon further said he would like to ask Mr. Gribble who was going to meet the expense of training the boys he had in mind in particular trades. Was it going to be a charge on the Education Department or the public generally, or were the employers prepared to pay for the training? Furthermore, what was going to become of the goods manufactured by the boys? Mr. Dixon said he could imagine that there would be an outcry from employers if any attempt were made to dispose of the goods in a manner which would compete with goods sold by employers. He quite agreed with the suggestion of providing physical training for boys, although he did • not 6ee that it was necessary, as the majority of youths followed some branch of sport. From his observations he had not noticed any eons of workers looking too flabby or overfed; in fact, they were all underfed. It appeared to him, concluded Air. Dixon, from Air. Gribble'e-hint, that the defence grounds at Ngaruawaliia might be obtained to enable boys to undergo a period of training, that Air. Gribble would like to see unemployed youths tliouldering rifles, forming fours and generally preparing themselves for "cannon fodder."