SKILLED WORKERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26215, 27 July 1946, Page 8

SKILLED WORKERS

IMMIGRATION POLICY SUPPORT FROM INDUSTRY The view that some sections of industry in Otago could absorb numbers of selected immigrants from the' United Kingdom immediately, and that others could support them but for the present shortage of materials, was expressed by Dunedin business men to a Daily Times reporter yesterday. It was stated that a number of inquiries from skilled tradesmen and experts in the United Kingdom had already been received by industrial concerns in the city. Workers in the engineering trades in the United Kingdom, saidj a business man, were often found to be very capable at one part of the job, but they did not have such wide experience in various departments of the trade as was the case among New Zealand tradesmen. A boilermaker, for instance, with few exceptions, would be either a riveter, a plater, or a caulker, but would not be proficient in all of these jobs, as would his counterpart in local industry. It was stated that moulders, turners and boilermakers of all kinds would be readily absorbed into New Zealand industries, as a decided shortage of trained men existed. Blacksmiths would also be welcomed, as this was almost a lost art in the Dominion, because few apprentices were coming forward to learn the trade. Shortage of Materials In the engineering trade in the United Kingdom, it was stated, there was plenty of labour, but little in the way of materials, while in New Zealand there was a shortage of’ both labour and materials. Representatives of the trades said that any possibility of the building and allied trades, and the electrical fitting line being able to support selected immigrants at present was precluded by the shortage of materials. It was considered that the present boom in the engineering trade was likely to last for at least 10 years. Although the electrical trades were at present short of manpower, and boys were being encouraged to complete their examinations and become fully competent, it was stated that immigration was not favoured by the trade in the meantime because of the shortage of materials. A Dunedin manufacturer stated that certain industries in Otago, and elsewhere in New Zealand, were at present desperately short of female labour, and in many cases the employment of men in factories was contingent on the employment of an adequate staff of women and girls. It was estimated that the clothing and mill trades in New Zealand could readily absorb as many as 3000 girls, and, to a lesser extent, young men. At least 500 girls could be taken on at a day’s notice in Otago, where the woollen mills were unable to obtain staffs. In another quarter, it was learned that newspapers in New Zealand, particularly the metropolitan journals, were experiencing difficulty in maintaining full staffs in their linotype and reading departments, and the opinion was expressed that newcomers to the country, competent in these trades, would readily find employment in the Dominion. Inquiries Received Letters have been received in Dunedin from the United Kingdom, the writers of which sought information regarding conditions in industry in the Dominion. Many of these letters were from tradesmen who had lost their jobs through war damage. Another indication of the keenness to enter the country, in spite of the immigration laws, has been given by the incerasingly frequent appearances in the courts throughout the Dominion of men charged with desertion from British ships.