Judge’s Comment.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 853, 29 August 1933, Page 6

Judge’s Comment .

Revision Needed.

New Apprenticeship Law Required. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND. August 29 DECLARATION that Parliament should go into the whole question of apprenticeship legislation and remove the anomalies that at present existed as a result of the patchwork state of the governing legislation was made by the President of the Arbitration Court, Mr Justice grazer, yesterday. The exercise by Magistrates of the jurisdiction conferred on them by the passing of the Finance Act, 1932, had resulted in many anomalies. The case before the Court was an application made for an amendment of the wages scale in the printing trades apprenticeship order of 1926. The proceedings disclosed that bv a general order of the Court in 1931 wages in subsequent apprenticeship contracts were fixed at 10 per cent less than the rates specified by existing orders. Under the 1932 legislation reductions had been made in different industries, decisions by magistrate? ranging from 15 to 50 per cent of the basic rates, but these decisions do not affect contracts made since May 10. 1932. Difficult to Avoid Anomalies. The President of the Arbitration Court. Mr Justice Frazer, said that amendment of the printing trades order would not entirely remove the anomaly in that industry. There would be one scale of wage? determined by magistrates, a second operating in the case of contract? made after May 10, 1932. and a third fixed by the proposed amendment. His Honor said that in the present patchwork state of legislation there was the further difficulty that there was apparently no power, if business conditions improved, to increase wages during the term of contract. Whether Parliament would pass another amendment to enable this to be done he did not know. “ It is very difficult with the legislation as it now stands to avoid creating anomalies,” his Honor added. “ I should like to see the whole question of apprenticeship dealt with again by Parliament and put on a sound basis. It doe? not seem to be very satisfactory at present.”