A Black Dwarf reporter went to interview four apprentices on pay, unions, strikes, politics and education. Three were engineers and one a draughtşman. One was in the 4.E.F., another in D.A.T.A. The other two were not in unions. Pay varied considerably not only between first and second year apprentices but by firms. They were averaging about £5. a week. Overtime was limited to 8 to ten hours a week. None of them usually did it.
UNIONS Two of the engineering apprentices were not in a union because 'you don't get nothing out of it'. But the apprentice in the A.E.F. said if you were injured on the way to work you got paid compensation. But he was critical of unions. He thought there were too many splits in them. Like at Fords where the A.E.F was alright but not some of the other unions. Where he worked, his shop-steward was a Chinese kind of communist and the convener was more Russian and now they weren't getting on too well which didn't do any good. He'd been to union meetings. You could go but you couldn't take part as an apprentice. They were often like a comedy show. They'd be about whether will find themselves severely restricted in their brother so and so should eat his meals between such and such an hour. If someone spoke up really important it was just shoved aside. forgot about legislation against trade unions and remembered all the existence in your area and you want to helP opposition to grading of apprentices was a good generally that the unions thing. So was the fight they'd put up for better conditions. Someone wondered if unions deliberately kept apprentices on low wages so they'd become really militant shop stewards when they finished. But it was pointed out unions didn't always like militant shop stewards that much.
One non-union engineering apprentices thought unskilled men on the shop foor should get less and apprentices should get more because they 'knew more'. But the A.E.F. decent wage. After all you're only training.' EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN General verdict: if a woman can do a man's work she should have equal pay. draughtswoman got the same. Why not other women?
GIRL APPRENTICES I don't want to be an engineer. I'm sure a girl don't, and if they want to do it let them but it wouldn't do much for their complexion. STRIKES The A.E.F. apprentice was a member of a Junior Workers' committee. It was alright but you went to meeting ever everyone said apprentices should go on strike but no one knew how to go about it. It didn't publicise itself enough. He only heard about it through his shop steward who is left wing. If you had a right wing steward he would say anything. was very difficult to organise apprentices. In the strike in 1959 there were too many splits. The communists were saying did itaid it all and the trotskyists saying they Someone else felt in the strike they were telling all the apprentices they had to be COURISES.
EDUCATION AND AUTHORITY The old way of teaching apprentices was to say it once and then a swift belt round the ear. But the apprentice today wouldn't stand for this kind of thing.
POLITICS There was a lot of disagreement here. How equal was Russia? In China they were equal but it was all brainwashing. No it wasn't. How do you know you ve never scen there? The defender of China had to admit he hadn't. He knew a folk singer who'd been to Cuba though and he really liked it. All the people came to listen to him play out in the open. Things had got much better there. There was brainwashing here too.
than spen me daylight hours workin for you.
An if a gan ti prison the world will git ti na the walls of a prison isin strang enuff for wa.
So grab ya job an ram it in ya stupid gob ad rather gan ti prison than de ya stinkin job.
Tom Pickard was born in Newcastle in 1946. His father was a railwayman. As the bulge babies grew up through what pass for schools in the North East Tom was moved to the lowest stream of • a secondary modern school. Since he received little encouragement in school it was not surprising that he left with his. friends at the age of fourteen. *Work was very scarce, but I enjoyed the dole, it gave me time to read and learn to see things to understand people better than if 1 had been doped by work."
Harassment
Introducing Zapple, a new label from Apple Records. John Lennon/Yoko Ono: 'Life with the Lions: (Zapple 01)
* Unfinished Music No.2:
I'm interested in
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'Nostalgia, Now 3d Off" Adrian Mitchell member opposed this. "Everyone's entitled to a AT LAST YOUTH IS SHOWING US THE WAY
YOUNG MAN THE FUTURE BELONGS TO YOU
BUT DON'T You TOUCH THE PRESENT... AND LEAVE THE PAST ALONE!