Painting Decline Forecast

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 1

Painting Decline Forecast

In a few years Christchurch residents would have their homes painted by men who put on a pair of white overalls and called themselves painters, said the secretary of the Christchurch Painters’ Industrial Union of Workers (Mr A. F. Ross). The only chance of a reprieve for the Christchurch home-owner who wanted his

home painted, he said, would be for Christchurch master painters to change their attitude towards taking on apprentices. Since the apprenticeship term for painters had been cut from five years to four early this year, said Mr Ross, Christchurch master painters had been hostile towards taking on apprentices. “The employers maintain it does not pay them to take on a boy for the shortened period,” he said. “Yet they say they are perturbed that they cannot get tradesmen. They are not prepared to trainjboy”

Mr Ross said that he knew of one Christchurch master painter who had so much work that he was refusing to take on any more for three months.

The master ■ painter had been offered cash to paint a modern two-storey house, both interior and exterior, yet had declined saying he could not do the job till after March. Normally the first block course intake for painting apprentices at the Christchurch Technical Institute was attended by 12 youths, he said. This year, since apprenticeship terms were cut by a year, the intake had dropped to

In the long run the public would pay. The not-too-plenti-ful pool of indentured tradesmen would soon dry up and there would not be the youngsters to take their places. Mr Ross said that in contrast, Auckland ano Wellington bad high intakes of apprentices. In Auckland this year, the average intake of apprentices was more than doubled, said Mr Ross. Wellington was well up on previous figures. “If the Christchurch master painters keep up their attitude there will be some aadlooking houses in Christchurch in 10 years,” Mr Ross said.