Aotearoa Apprenticeships: the first century

I have been wondering about how apprenticeships began in Aotearoa, and was lucky enough to stumble over Masters from Victoria University detailing some of our history (Kirby, 1956), as well as a great Masters (Murray, 2001). 

In our founding years, as enough skilled UK tradespeople were arriving to meet demand, Kiwi apprenticeships were not needed (Kirby, 1954); and personally, my forefathers arrived as glaziers, builders, and hatters. Young men from the UK's Parkhurst Penitentiary, intended for apprenticeships arrived into Auckland in the early 1840s. However, they faced hostility, being considered 'felons', and this 'repurposing' scheme failed (Kirby, 1954). As a result, it was 1846 before the term "apprentice" appeared in the New Zealand statutes: where JPs were allowed to sign destitute children aged fourteen and over into 'suitable' trade or business apprenticeship (Kirby, 1954). So effectively we used apprenticeship as juvenile delinquency or poorhouse solution, as opposed to meeting the needs of business (Kirby, 1954; McAndrew et al., 2017; Murray, 2001).

We established the Master and Apprentice Act in 1865, although this was still pretty much about ensuring orphans and destitute children were self-supporting, with the added bonus of twelve year olds being able to be indentured for five years (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). The Act was updated in 1875, allowing the government to take advantage of this as well, with state Printing and Railways Departments able to indenture twelve year olds (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). 

The 1880s economic downturn saw many nominal 'apprentices' - without formal indenture protection - discharged as soon as they qualified for higher pay: leading to scandal requiring a 1890 Royal Commission... which saw the establishment of our first piece of employment legislation: the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1894 or IC&A (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). This act managed apprenticeships, though initially limited to scope to regulation of award conditions for pay, working hours, and conditions of employment (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). The ratio of apprentices to journeymen was set at one apprentice to every four journeymen in an 1898 amendment (Kirby, 1956). 

A move proposed at this time was that apprentice wages be set "for the six years [the apprenticeship was to run, ... at] 14[%], 20[%], 35[%], 50[%], 60[%], and 75[%] of a journeyman's wages" (Kirby, 1954, p. 35). This didn't make it into the Act, but clearly shows how little value an apprentice was thought to add to their trade until they reached their mastery.

There were a number of shocks in the next forty years. Firstly, WWI caused a skilled labour shortage, but emergency provisions protected the apprenticeships of those who joined up before completing their contracts (Kirby, 1954). The Apprenticeship Act 1923 made apprenticeship standalone from the IC&A industrial bargaining, with a dedicated and specialised structure (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). The economic uncertainty of the 1930s had the government allowing 'Stipendiary Magistrates' to change, revoke, or suspend apprenticeship contracts should an employers' financial position leave them unable to deliver specific performance: and apprentice numbers fell from close to 10,000 in 1928 to 3,300 in 1935 (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). Further, tastes were changing, and public respect for artisanal work was eroding (Kirby, 1954; Murray, 2001). We were seeing the beginnings of mass production.

However, there was respite: the 1935 Labour Government repealed the cancellation provisions, re-established award rates, and introduced special adult apprenticeship contracts for those for whom the Great Depression had interrupted training (Kirby, 1954). Lastly, WWII once more required emergency regulations to allow for the suspension and eventual revival of contracts for those on military service (Kirby, 1954).

And lo: a hundred years have gone by in a flash. I think I might do another hundred years - well, 90, anyway! - at some point in the future :-)

Sam

References:

Kirby, R. V. (1956). Apprenticeship in New Zealand: Its development, present organization and administration (Master thesis, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington). https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.17061050

McAndrew, I., Geare, A., & Edgar, F. (2017). Chapter 1: The Changing Landscape of Workplace Relations. In G. Anderson, A. Geare, E. Rasmussen, M. Wilson (Eds.), Transforming Workplace Relations in New Zealand 1976–2016 (pp. 23–43). Victoria University Press.

Murray, N. (2001). A history of apprenticeship in New Zealand [Masters thesis: Lincoln University]. https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10182/1599/murray_msocsci.pdf?sequence=1

Murray, N. A. (2004). Who gets their hands' dirty' in the knowledge society? Training for the skilled trades in New Zealand [Doctoral thesis, Lincoln University]. https://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/bitstreams/0855ee89-48fa-4e1c-9bd1-d1878b564851/download