Poberty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, MAY 24, 1937. UNEMPLOYED YOUTHS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19332, 24 May 1937, Page 4

Poberty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, MONDAY, MAY 24, 1937. UNEMPLOYED YOUTHS

A recent statement by the acting' Prime Minister that it was possible that legislation would lie passed to

remove sonic of the disabilities imposed upon youths as it result of measures enacted last session will be welcomed as an indication that the

Government intends to remove anomalies crented by its earlier legislation. The desire of the Govern men! that reasonable wages should be pniil to all workers will find read,\ endorsement; but il is inevitable that there should be difficulty in defining what is ii reasonable level and, particularly, in fixing a basis thnt would be applicable to all workers and all industries. At the present time there is provision that any boy o: girl, irrespective of age or occupa-

tion, must receive a commencing wage of los a week, increasing nt the rate of 4s a halt-year until £2 is reached In prosperous times there might not be much objection to this scale, but (luring a period of financial stress it might cause employers to make repeated changes in staff in order to

avoid paying the increases. Employees whose services had been dispensed with mast, under the. Act, be credited with their period of service and be paid accordingly, so that their prospects of obtaining a new situation would be seriously prejudiced. Especially in businesses where there is little call for skill or training the tendency would be for a fairly constant turnover of youthful labour, to the detriment of the young employee whose interests it was the object; of the legislation to protect. The second difficulty arises from the application of the basic wage to all workers who have attained the age of 21 years. Mr. Fraser, indirectly, apologised for this mistake in the Statute, stating that the Government bad left it to the Arbitration Court to fix the age. This, of course, is hardly correct, since the Government stipulated thai the basic wage was to apply to all "adults" and the court held that.it was bound to accept the legal interpretation of the term. The effect of the law as it stands is that a youth who starts work at the age of 19 years, after two years' service has to receive a minimum wage of £.'!' His a week, although his expert ence and his ability might not warrant it. As Mr. Fraser himself pointed out, boys or girls coming within this category cannot give service commensurate with the basic, wage, but their employers either have to pay the basic wage or dispense with their services. Even under the best of circumstances, where a boy starts work tit the age of Hi he reaches the point where the application of the basic wage might endanger his job. According to the. increments fixed by the law he would reach the £2 level at the age of 10, and if the same rate of increase were maintained he would be receiving £2 13s when he reached the age of 21. He would then im mediately have to jump to £3 His. whatever his value to his employer and might be in danger of losing em ployment just nt a time when he had become proficient in some of work, ami could not start elsewhere unless he received the basic wage.

The acting-Prime Minister referred to the Government's intention to increase the .school leaving age, but litis will aggravate the problem rathei than remedy it, since it will mean that youths will start work later find reach the basic wage level aftei shorter experience. Mr. Fraser quite frankly admits these difficulties am says, unequivocally, that thoy wil! have to be adjusted—presumably by altering the age at which the basic wage applies. ' It is (dear, however. that, even this measure will not en tirely overcome the problem, especial ly in the case of youths who desire to make the most of their opportunitiesfor education and do not commence work until they are near the twenties [low the position is to be met, there fore, is not easily decided, but the oik thing that does seem to be apparent is the need for greater elasticity in order to meet conditions that will never conform to one general rule. This has already been done, incidentally, in regard to apprentices, who. with the consent of the Minister, may enter into special contracts on special conditions, l"nfortunately, apprenticeship orders cover only a very small proportion of youths, but the extension of this principle of flexiiiility would go seme distance towards improving the present situation. The whole question of unemployment among youths is to he discussed by a conference in Wellington this week, and it is to be hoped that some reasonable compromise will emerge that will prevent juvenile labour from being exploited and, at the same time, prevent it, from bebing prejudiced. After all, it is more important that youths should have every opportunity and facility for learing souk branch of industry and advancing according to their merit, than that in their earlier years they should receive even comparatively high wages. The opportunities are limited enough as it is—the number of apprentices, for instance, is less than half the normal —and prompt, measures should be taken to remove any anomalies and restriction's which make them stili more remote. There are few ques lions of greater importance nt the present time and there will be a sin cere hope that some means will b< devised of overcoming the difficulties without; doing injustice to anyone.