APPRENTICE LAW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 120, 24 May 1939, Page 10

APPRENTICE LAW.

The law relating to approntices in Now Zenlnnd hns not been overhauled for many years. Since the last legislation was passed there have been many changes in the industrial system, and a fjeneral overhaul of the conditions governing apprenticeship would give opportunity for improving the system in a number of directions. The draft bill now presented by the Minister of Labour will give the opportunity for discussion, but the proposals will need very careful examination and revision, for as they stand they nre open to a number of objections. Chief among these is the proposal to establish a Dominion Apprenticeship Committee in substitution for the present local committees. This, on the surface, would be a retrograde step. The local committees, if they function with a recognition of the importance of their worth to the apprentice, to the employer and to the trade itself —and many of them do—can control and direct training in a manner which would be far beyond the scope of a Dominion committee. From their local knowledge they are able to. decide whether lads are being properly trained and the number of apprentices to which an employer is entitled; they can make arrangements for transfers or for cancellation when necessary, and generally supervise the younger section of workers. A travelling committee based on Wellington could do none of these things efficiently. Contracts are subject to the Factories Act, and whatever the contract contains the wages rate must lie equal to or above that provided under that Act. This requires attention. A contract is a contract, and its specific conditions should not be interfered with by outside influences. There is also sonic neeessity to control the system used by some employers of making their juniors nominal partners in the bnaineee and floating the apprenticeship conditions. These and a number of other matters require attention.