N.Z. losing engineers says union man

Press, 2 August 1977, Page 6

N.Z. losing engineers says union man

New Zealand is accepting skilled tradesmen from Western Europe as permanent migrants, while its own tradesmen are heading for better wages in Australia. The secretary of the Canterbury branch of the Engineers Union (Mr R. J. Todd), said this last evening. Skilled engineering tradesmen have been quitting their jobs in Christchurch and heading for Australia at the rate of three a week in the last 10 weeks, he said. That was the number getting official clearances from the union, but the actual number could be double that, he said. They were going because they could get $4.90 to $5.20 an hour in Australia, compared with $2.90 in Christchurch.

“They don’t seem to have any difficulty getting jobs if they go to the right areas,” said Mr Todd. However unskilled workers in the industry were in the opposite situation. They were facing redundancy. Several categories of meta) workers are on the list of occupations acceptable to the New Zealand Department of Labour for persons from “traditional source” countries, who satisfy other criteria. according to the Press Association.

Included in the priority list of eligible migrants are achitects, draughtsmen and surveyors, in spite of the slump in the construction and allied

industries. Also included are electricians, plumbers, doctors and nurses, social workers, university and high school teachers, printing and engineering tradesmen, footwear tradesmen, industrial engineers, typists, wage clerks and commercial travellers. According to the department. people in occupations on the list were likely to have their applications approved if they fulfilled other requirements. The Minister of Immigration (Mr Gill) said last month that the list of skills for acceptable immigrants had been widened. He did not release the list, but it was being circulated to industry. The Labour Department’s list is used when deciding applications from prospective immigrants in “traditional source” countries for permanent entry to New Zealand. These countries are Austria, Belgium. Canada, Denmark, Finland, France,

West Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg. Netherlands, Norway, Swe-

den, Switzerland, Britain, and the United States. The Department is likely to approve applications from people who have qualifications and experience in the occupations lists if applicants are aged between 18 and 45 and, if married, have no more than four dependent children; are in good health and of good character; and if the applicant has a genuine specific guarantee of employment from his prospective employer in New Zealand, and a similar guarantee of accommodation. Mr Todd said that immigrants would not be taking the jobs of skilled tradesmen, because there were so many leaving. He did not think that many overseas tradesmen would be attracted by New Zealand’s wage rates and cost of living unless they came from countries other than the "traditional source” countries. If there was a shortage, New Zealand should be looking toward the training of more apprentices, he said.