SKILLED TRADES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 45, 21 August 1924, Page 9

SKILLED TRADES

RIGHT OF ENTRY

PROPORTION OF APPRENTICES

TO JOURNEYMEN

DUTIES OF THE NEW COM-

MITTEES.

The Apprentices Act, under which the number of apprentices—the proportion of apprentices to journeymen in each trade will be fixed and regulated— came into forge in New Zealand on the Ist of April last. "Under this law certain duties are to be performed by apprenticeship committees in- the chief centres of the Dominion. During the past, few days the Arbitration Court lias been • engaged in hearing statements by representatives of the employers and employees in various industries; and the Court will in due course issue a general order dealing with eacli industry so far as apprentices are concerned.

Respecting the setting up of committees iv New Zealand, • 'there have to date been 29 such committees registered, while 14 others are in contemplation.. Those in Wellington city cover the, following trades : Bakers, bootmakers and boot repairs, carpenters and joiners, painters, tailors, furniture makers. The South African Act dealing with apprentices was passed in 1922; the New Zealand Act in 1923. The only direct provision taken directly by New Zealand from the South African Act was that enabling the registrar of apprentices to refuse to allow an apprenticeship contract-to be entered into if he considers it would not be in the interest of the , apprentice to register it. Ihis power in New Zealand is given to the Court ' and to the apprenticeship committees, which may refuse on any ground of expediency. • AN INTERESTING ARTICLE. _ An interesting article on the proportion of apprentices' to journeymen * and the limitation of the right of entry to n trade has been written by Professor J. F. Holloway, Professor of Economics, Transvaal University College, and chairman of the Juvenile Affairs •Board of that country. As the New Zealand _ and the South African Acts are similar in their main, provisions, some of Professor Holloway's comments are given below, with notes on th"c same-subject so far a3 the position in New Zealand is concerned.

"The right to be admitted to a skilled trade," writes Professor 'Holloway, "is one which has a long controversial history. The medieval craft guilds had mmute regulations on the point, and it was the tendency on their-part to limit too greatly this right, which, in a time of expanding industry, caused artisans to disregard them, and led to their downfall in England. The question of apprenticeship has,'since the beginning of the modern era, passed through different phases, but in all of them the- question of the conditions of entrance to the skilled' trades has been an important one. This need cause no surprise when one remembers the extent to which the remuneration in a, skilled trade depends on the number of artisans who are capable of practising it efficiently.. . * THE FIXED KATIO. "In the organised skilled trades in .South Africa the trada unions . have taken the matter in hr.nd, and have laid down a, ratio of- apprentices to journeymen, the adoption of which they have striven, more or less successfully, to secure on the part of the employers. This ratio varies from one or three to one to five in_ different ...trades. This ratio is not maintained without a certain amount of friction. Certain employers complain loudly of the restriction. On the other nand, others never reach the quota which the trade union would allow, while some take on .no apprentices at all. On the whole therefore, it may be inferred that the number, of apprentices actually being trained is-in certain industries lower than the ratio' would permit—for instance, in 'the, building industry. From this it_ is.frequently inferred that the complaints'on the part of employers, above referred to, are unreasonable, and that the employers-are to blame for not attaining the trade union ratio, It is however, illogical to blame the good employer who would train more apprentices, for the bad, who trains none at all. :

„I"^.W Zealand it has been found that while the proportion fixed by the Arbitration Court's award is roughly one apprentice to three journeymen, the actual number, employed throughout the cluef .towns is one to -5, varying from one^ to 3 to one to 7. '.'There are other reasons," states Professor .-Hollpway, « w hy the expedient of a nxed ratio on a shop basis is not satisfactory.. The number of journeymen employed by an employer -. fluctuates very considerably. This is notably the case m the building trade. An apprentice has, however, .to be taken.on for a considerable period. The fear of having top large a quota of apprentices during slack times deters many employers from taking on as many as they "might otherwise do. Moreover, some shops are better ■ equipped" for training- than others, and in some branches of. certain trades a larger number of apprentices could conceivably be employed with advantage than in others. A" fixed ratio expedient was no doubt originally adopted for want of a better plan, but its inelasticity and, its failure to lake into account all" the factors of a~trade render it -of doubtful utility. :THE NEW APPRENTICESHIP ••-•.• ■'. COMMITTEE. "With the creation of apprenticeship committees under the Apprenticeship' Act No. 26 of 1922 just "such machinery, in the abseifce of which led to the adoption of the fixed, ratio- plan, hna now become available' for dealing with the difficulties referred to above. As. these committees will consist of an equal number .of employers and employees, under an 'independent chairman, it cannot be said that the interests of 'either, side are in danger, of being"'sacrificed. "Under the Act it-will'no longer be competent for a trade, union to insist oi a fixed ratio. Section 13 (1) contains the very important principle that the number of apprentices who may be cm--ployed in a designated, trade shall be" fixed by the Minister of Mines and Industries after, consultation with the Apprenticeship- Committee, or Committees, concerned. - The Act contains two other important allusions to this question. Section 13 (4) lays down that'the Mimsler may, after consultation with the Committee, vary the number of apprentices, determined under the section quoted above, in respect of .any'district 'or area,-in so fur as any individual workshop is concerned, and may make special provisions .for cases where no journeymen' are -employed. Although Section' 13 ;(1)" contains no reference to a ratio, this, section seems to assume' that the method adopted be the fixing of some ratio or 'other., This clause, thereforegives the Minister the power t ( , nro-j-viJcfur the cases alluded'to above." ' . TIIK NEW ZEALAND ACT.' Tl.w;difn.mlty KnlOT „n,V u if 4 w .-,„- ---, ma.New iJojilayd. Act- ul Ijist. a-t-siu^

first, by enacting that the maximum, number or proportion of apprentices in. any trade or district (as fixed by the Court of Arbitration) is to apply-on the average, there being power, which the Apprenticeship Committees may exercise, to allot more or less to any particular employers, so long as they do not exceed the maximum number on the average. Second, the Act provides that m intermittent trades, like the building trades, a group of employers may become jointly responsible for one « more apprentices, arrangements to be made amongst themselves subject to approval of the committee as to when and how the interchanges shall take place. 11ns proposal has the added advantage of enabling an apprentice to acquire knowledge of his trade in one shop that cannot be given in another, llie other reference to this matter " continues Professor HoJloway, "is contained in Section 14 (c), which states that the Apprenticeship Committee shall recommend to the Minister from time" jto time the number of apprentices who j may be employed in any workshop or industrial establishment. It further contains the important rider that 'the number of apprentices shall not be reI stncted with the object of limiting the future number of journeymen.' ( AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE. . "This clause embodies one of the most important principles which it will be the duty of the committee to carry out. It is alike undesirable to limit the future number of journeymen, and to increase them,. beyond the normal requirements or the trade. If. too many apprentices are trained, the .effect will be to depress wages or to give' rise to a certain amount of unemployment. However much those employers who only consider their selfish interests may look forward to the prospects of getting their labour cheaply, and disturbance of this kind is uneconomical and in conflict .with the best interests of the community. If, on the other hand, too few artisans are trained, wages will rise temporarily for those fortunate individuals who have been adequately trained; but the community will suffer from the shortage of skilled labour. The latter evil will give rise to the importation of skilled labourers from abroad, to the detriment of the youth of the countrj, and the aggravation of the poor white evil.

"If, therefore, Apprenticeship Committees could so arrange the conditions regarding the number of apprentices to bo employed that they strike the golden mean between the extremes of too few and too many, they will be rendering the country a colossal service. Unfortunately, this object 'is not" easy to ensompass, and Apprenticeship Committees would be well advised to give "the most careful thought and study to it" THE GOLDEN MEAN. The golden mean is aimed at in the Aew Zealand Act by providing for a minimum as well as a maximum number of apprentices; The Queensland Act makes similar provision, arid under it the Coujt, of Arbitration has fixed- in the building trade a maximum of one to two and a minimum of one to five.