APPRENTICESHIP LAWS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19808, 9 December 1938, Page 14

APPRENTICESHIP LAWS

AMENDMENTS PENDING INCTt E A SING TR AIN EES MINISTER’S OBJECTIVE (Pur Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. Steps to increase the number of apprentices are to be taken next year by the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. He said in an interview yesterday that he hoped to introduce a bill during the next session of Parliament consolidating the legislation relating to apprentices and providing for a number or amendments that were considered necessary. He wanted to have his proposals considered by the labour people and probably the employers too, because he was anxious to have something that was satisfactory to all parties. During the past year or so, said Mr. Armstrong, the shortage of skilled tradesmen was very .noticeable, particularly in the building industry. Of the 1500 adult apprentices since 1936 registered under the amendment to the Apprenticeship Act that year, 450 were building trade apprentices. Besides-these apprentices a large percentage of ordinary apprentices wore in the building trade. There was a lot of leeway to make up.

When the present Government came into office, there were about 3200 registered apprentices, but now there were somewhere about 9000. By the end of the present school term, he hoped there would be more than 10,000. This was about the maximum number of apprentices there had ever been in New Zealand at any one time. It was considered that to. meet the normal requirements of the Dominion, there should be about 10,000 apprentices, but there was a lot of leeway to make up.