ACT NOT AT FAULT

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 17, 21 January 1927, Page 4

ACT NOT AT FAULT

UNION LEADER'S STATEMENT

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—We are at present hearing a great deal about the workings of the Apprentices Act, which has been in operation since 1923. Practically every. letter and article appearing hasbeen for the condemnation of the Act, very little appearing for its food, or any .suggestion of improvement, t would appear to the average reader that the Act is worse than useless. This is far from correct. Very few of those complaining about the-Act could' have gone deeply into the matter, otherwise they would realise that thfiy are on the wrong track. '■ ■ .

The Act has nothing whatever to do -with the limitation of apprentices in any way; it contains merely machinery clauses drafted for the betterment of the conditions under which apprentices have to work. The main idea was to achieve a better standard of competency and efficiency in the various skilled fcf.des, and to assist employers and boys when difficulties arise, so that when an apprentice completed his time he would be able to command his place in the world of journeymen with more confidence. Rightly so, too, as he becomes the man of the future .to fill the place of other skilled workers who have had to leave their, various occupations through many reasons and causes. Properly trained apprentices are an asset to any employer. What do we find? Very few employers in the skilled trades take any interest after they have got the lads. It is-left to the men to teach, as ofttimes the employers could nqt teach, as oftimes the employers could not competent themselves. They are certainly in business, but it is left to the men to pull the lad through his period o£ apprenticeship, good,_bad, or indifferent. Many of the men are unable to teach the b'oyj as they themselves have to go for their lives to. keep up: to the iniquitous time/■sheefc and driving system adopted, and consequently the boy is neglected and has to fish for himself. So long as it is cheap labour 'for the: employers; well and good— their troubles! Then they hold forth and condemn an Act which they know nothing about;' Everybody is wrong, pin-pricking union secretaries, hosts of Labour Department . inspectors, who haunt the premises and prosecute ;sometimes". They never take time to'consider whether they have done the, best for the boy. It is quite right to push him': from pillar to post,.never teach him anything, and at the end of five years (which: soon goes'by) push him out an incompetent man,: to present himself to other employers for a job, or he may walk about for mpnths; as no one wants incompetent; men. - Then they start the same old game again, and blame everybody but themselves, because they cannot get a further supply of cheap labour. Is it any .wonder the boys and men become tricky and dodge the real issue? Again, how'many'parents take interest in the children's welfare when at work? So long as they are at' work and bringing in a few shillings, why worry? Many parents cannot put their lads to the various occupations that the.boys are suited for; it is get out and get a job to keep the home going, aB father has only had a fewdays this.-week, or may have been out for weeks on end. I am speaking of an experiences extending over thirty-five years m the industrial field. The Minister (Mr. Anderson) is quite right when he states that the Act is all right, and the apprentices want limiting in the various trades. When we hear of such remarks from a Reform Minister who has had a wide experience in industrial matters, and cannot by any stretch of imagination be classed as an extreme Labour man, we know we are getting an outside opinion with no bias with regard to the necessity of such I limitations. Eecently a reduction was made in the electrical trade from the 1-to-l proportion to l-to-2 proportion; Wonderful trade the electrical trade (also the engineering trade)! ; All the lads want to go to.it, and the result is the present-day figures of unemployment: 9 out of work, 7 or 8 wandering' round the; country spending their hard-earned money looking for a job, 22 away from the trade-waiting to get back when trade gets better. This does not include the number on the sick list.' This has been the position for months now caused by the large number of boys at this particular trade. Consequently the trade has been cheapened by such boy labour, and'the insane policy of price cutting adopted has not given the men and boys an opportunity to become efficient tradesmen, arid the trade is down in the dirt. This applies to many skilled trades. Can you wonder why the unions /concentrate on the limitation of the boys? They know the position* and ] are safeguarding the position against cheap labour and inefficiency.

Now the various apprenticeship ■ orders under the' Apt are the outcome of deliberations ■ tif :the employers-and employees on. the various. apprentice ■ committees, all having an equal :say in'the various ways and means make the orders workable. This has then to be ratified by the. Arbitration Court which'settles the parts disputed after hearing evidence on both sides. Surely there is nothing to criticise; as the employers all have their associations and federations, and are alive and. well! posted to ; every bit of legislation:? that j passes through, and the Court cahno£ be.'! said to be favouring the workers' side, as it.has been, severely condemned during the past year.; The Court is far-seeing enough to see the danger of wholesale entrance of boys into,' trades arid supplying cheap labour; against the adult worker. Adult, 1 workmen must be kept in as constant employment: possible, as they are'the, bread-1 winners; and the wages paid, to tices do;not; keep them inboot leather i in} their, initial'istages. Unemployment is; a course'and a, menace to the community.;! If only employers would co-operate with: rthe unions and-try and make ; the Act and ■ orders more, compatible with the training; of their various apprentices instead of '< :their apathetic- attitude as,to their wel-; fare and concentrating on how much theyj can get out* of the men and boys and the; ■jobs for profit, the sooner will-we have better apprentices, more efficient tradesmen, and contentment and less turmoil and .pinpricking. . ■■■■.' Again we have the factor that manylads are not suited for the various trades they enter. We will always have the dead-end man and unskilled with us. We cannot work without them, as there is a considerable amount of this class of work to be;done all over the world.. The whole j social'system will have to be changed right, from/the .nursing'days of- the; child/, through the school days and right up to' the : question, of ■ medical examination, before ■marriage, as this is a> vital issue in the production of the human race. The unskilled man must live and must be paid an ;adequate wage for him to probably produce apprentices of the future trades, even though he has been an unskilled worker all his life. Great men and women have emanated from the lowly status of life. It costs the unskilled worker as .much- to live as the skilled artisan. What is the use of placing a boy of mechanical mind in an office or vice versa?. Yet we still have the facts before us of parents forcing lads to trades and occupations they detest, while others have n^ opportunity to develop their minds owing to the struggling state of the parents. They simply have to get a job to get money and remain at it owing to.the fear of unemployment. This is where the school'teachers can-help a. lot as they, follow a lad through many; classes and watch'his development. Emj ployers would be wise to inquire, if pos- | Bible, from the lad what school he last attended and who was his teacher. It would be very little trouble to write'and I inquire, and I am.sure they would'receive a courteous reply as to the lad's capabilities. , I.see lads apprenticed who have no possible chance of .ever becoming efficient at the trade they are at, yet the parents I and employers do not heed the advice ! given.i but go on with it for perhaps one or two years. Then the trouble'begins, and they all want to get away from the contract signed up, and the boy's time has been wasted and he comes to a dead-end. We quite realise that boys want .to learn ■ the various trades, and it is a problem how to utilise them owing to the slow development of secondary • industries in New Zealand; but it is wrong to condemn legislation before it has had a good trial, as- its supposed failure is caused at present by misunderstanding and lack of co-operation on the part of those "who should be the .first to assist it and who blame' the workers' organisations and the 'Government and Labour Department. If the various awards, Acts, and orders were faithfully abided by, there would be no use for the so-called host of inspectors who certainly do not exist in Wellington. I only know of four or five and their hands are pretty full trying to keep_ delinquents up to the mark. The district covered by their operations is a

large one, and they are certainly shorthanded. The boy question has been a source of concern for over 30 years and no solution of the difficulty has been reached yet. The old Act was antiquated and unwieldy but the new one is concise and short, and,is workable if applied properly. So let us get together and have less condemning of Government, Labour Department, Court, Acts, laws, and unions and officials and further the interests of the boys, the trades, and one and all for the sake of efficiency and prosperity—l am, etc..

H. B. SWINDELL, Sec, Electrical Workers' Union. 21st January.