APPRENTICES IN THE BOOT TRADE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3349, 22 May 1918, Page 30

APPRENTICES IN THE BOOT TRADE.

ARBITRATION COURT'S REPORT. AGAINST REMOVAL OF RESTRICTIONS. (Fboii Oob Own Coebespondhxt.) WELLINGTON, May 16. Recently the Arbitration Court was constituted a commission to deal' with an application from the employers in the boot industry in Dunedin to suspend the award governing the employment of apprentices, and in view of the present industrial uncertainty and the difficulty experienced in securing workers; the-matter is regarded as of great importance to the whole of New Zealand. Tho application was vigorously opposed by the union, and in its report to the Governor-general the commission has decided against the application. The boot operatives' award provides for the limitation of apprentices to the degree of one apprentice to threo journeymen, and the employers asked under section 25 of the Regulations of Trade and Commerce Act, that the number of apprentices which may bo employed should be unlimited. . The" report refers to the difficulties experienced by manufacturers in meeting the demands for their manufactures, which was attributable in the first place to the largo quantities of boots required for military purposes, and to the restricted importation of footwear in consequence of the war; and in the second-- place to the depletion of staffs owing to the large number of skilled workers who have enlisted. There is also some apprehension amongst employers that their staffs will be still further depleted as the Second Division is called up. In giving its reasons for the opinion' that the suggested alteration is not necessary or desirable, the commission makes several remarks which are of tho greatest interest to all industrial concerns. It finds that it is is not reasonable that, in order to meet a pressure which may be temporary, an unlimited number, of apprentices should be taken on, with the result that when tho conditions become normal these apprentices, after having served their term of apprenticeship, may find little or no demand for their services. It would also bo unfair to tha apprentices themselves, as if their numbers were unlimited it is difficult to see how they could receive the teaching and experience nccossary to make thorn efficient journeymen. It would also be unfair to those skilled workers in the industry who have enlisted, as they might find on their return to tho dominion that they could not procure employment owing to the obligations entered into by .the. employers with a largo number of apprentices. The commission added that, although it appeared that some employers were hampered by the restriction in tho number of apprentices, many employers had not availed themselves of the right to take apprentices to the full extent permitted.