APPRENTICES’ ACT

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 231, 12 September 1934, Page 4

APPRENTICES’ ACT

Petition for Its Repeal

Own Parliamentary Representative. WELLINGTON, September IL

According to a petition presented to Parliament by Mr J. Hargest (Invercargill, Government) this afternoon, the provisions of the Apprentices Act, 1923, do not meet with approval of some employers of skilled labour. The petition, which is signed on behalf of 17 Invercargill firms, asks for the repeal of the Act and its amendments, and reversion to the former system of making provision for apprentices in industrial awards and agreements.

The petitioners state that the general shortage of labour from 1914 to 1921) aud the resultant high wages obtainable by unskilled workers created a natural reluctance on the part of boys, supported in some instances by their parents, to enter trades as apprentices where lower wages were paid. The higher wages available for unskilled work led many boys to enter “blind alley” occupations aud tempted partly trained apprentices to seek higher wages in unskilled trades. “Because of this the Apprentices Act was passed,” the petitioners state. “The Act was designed to meet a set of circumstances which, even before it became law, had almost disappeared and which for the last five years at least has been entirely unknown.' ’ The motive behind the Act had been to encourage boys to enter skilled trades, but instead of achieving this purpose it had effectively reduced to a minimum the opportunities offering for boys desiring entry. In conclusion, the petitioners express the opinion that as long as the Act remains on the Statute Hook there will be no improvement in the present position.