“Failure Of Industry To Pay For Skill”

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32078, 28 August 1969, Page 18

“Failure Of Industry To Pay For Skill”

The labour problems facing exporters was of their own making, the president of the Canterbury Trades Council (Mr R. A. Hill) said yesterday. He was commenting on a statement by Mr J. R. Maddren, of the Trade Promotion Council, that the two main problems facing exporters were a shortage of skilled labour and restrictions which ruled out shift work by women.

The shortage of skilled men certainly existed but it was caused by the complete failure of New Zealand industry to pay for skill, Mr Hill said. The tradesman during his training was a cheap source of indentured labour, and on qualifying as a journeyman he found in many cases that he could earn higher pay in semi-skilled work. This was for the same hours of work, often in better conditions. It was not so long since New Zealand had many thousands, including tradesmen, for whom no work could be found, Mr Hill said. This bad resulted in a mass exodus to Australia, and now that jobs were again available here, skilled New Zealanders were not interested in coming back to lower wages.

Mr Hill suggested that the same would apply to immigrants. With the New Zealand wage structure now below that of Britain, and far below Australia’s the inducements for tradesmen to come to New Zealand were limited. The lesson to be learned from this, said Mr Hill, was that full use should be made at all times of the existing labour force.

This did not mean, however, that women should be asked to work on night shift, Mr Hill said. It was socially undesirable, and Mr Maddren’s proposal would meet with united opposition from every trade union involved.

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