MORE ABOUT APPRENTICES

Grey River Argus, 17 September 1941, Page 7

MORE ABOUT APPRENTICES

Some weeks ago we published in the Magazine Page an editorial dealing with the question of the wages of apprentices. The apprentices of Greyinouth district followed up the publicitys given to their grievance by organising petitions setting out their ages and wages received, using copies of the editorial as a statement of their case for higher wages. On.’ pelitioii was forwarded to the local Member. Mr J. O’Brien, M.P., and another to .the Hon. P. C. Webb, Minister of Labour. The “Argus” of September 11th informs us that Mr O’Brien raised the matter in ’Parliament, pointing out that the average age of the petitioners was 20 years, and the average wiige received £1 Ils per week. He urged an increase in wages for apprentices. The Minister replied “he was arranging for enquiries to be made in the matter.” Mr Webb also indicated that apprentices were being taught a skilled trade, and consequently it could not be expected they should receive the same wages as other junior workers. It is time someone exploded the myth that the presentday employer teaches his apprentices a trade. Ask any tradesman. He will tell you he became really proficient AFTER he had completed, and not during, his apprenticeship. The time has long passed when the employers interested themselves in creating craftsmen. There are exceptions among the smaller employers, but even there they are few and far between. Apprentices to-day are accepted only for the purpose ol producing greater , profits. They are the cheapest labour available. As a general rule, the employer is concerned solely with the interests of his own business—not with turning out capable tradesmen who probably will not continue in his employ. That is why many young men, after serving a five-year apprenticeship, find employers reluctant to employ them as tradesmen, believing they have had insufficient experience. The employer knows that the amount of real training given to apprentice's in the workshop accounts for a very small portion of the apprenticeship period. The apprentice has had a general education above th ; average of our working-class youth. His education is continued during-his apprenticeship by practical and theoretical training at a technical school— in his own time. And so we say—an apprentice is far more useful and productive to an employer than any unapprenticed junior he could employ. Therefore, taking into account all the circumstances, we say it CAN be expected that our apprenticed youth receive wages at least as high as other young unindentured workers of the same age—because they are every bit as profitable to the employers. Air O’Brien is to be commended for his support of the claims of our apprentices. They are undoubtedly the woistpaid section of the industrial workers of this country. A substantial increase in their present rates is an urgent necessity We know of apprentices who gladly welcomed the opportunitv to go into territorial camps—not because of any particular desire for military training, but because the pay of 49s per week and free board was so much better than their pav as apprentices. Thein army pay was used to. buy clothing and tools of their trade, thus relieving the financial burden on their hard-pressed parents. In last week’s page, we published, the rates lor meta 1 trades apprentices in Australia. A comparison with New Zealand rates shows that employers m the; country are in a xei. happy position as far as apprenticed labour is concerned. We know of no insurmountable legal obstacles in the way of granting a substantial increase in apprentices’ wage-rates. Exisiting awards have been varied on many occasions, since the war commenced. So we confidently await the Minister s decision, believing he will see that more reasonable wage rates are set out for our apprenticed youth.