Lights out on apprentices
ANDREW McLEOD: Newcastle Star 30 January 2008
A fortnight before the State Election last March, Premier Morris Iemma promised ‘the privatisation of the State Government owned energy companies is not on our agenda.’
Now, less than a year later, privatisation of the electricity industry looks all but assured – even dissenting Labor Party members cannot stand in its way because the matter does not require parliamentary debate nor changes to legislation.
University of Newcastle PhD student Harry Williams specialises in labour hire and other workforce issues.
He says young people looking for a trade will be among the big losers in a privatised electricity industry because the number of apprenticeships will drop.
“It’s happened in every other (privatised) industry and I don’t see why it won’t happen in this one.
“Private industry just doesn’t take on apprentices.”
Mr Williams says privatisation will have a flow-on effect on the nationwide skill shortage.
“The current catch cry is ‘skill shortage’ – well, how did we end up with a shortage?
“There’s all this guff about kids not wanting apprenticeships because they don’t want to get their hands dirty but the truth is they just can’t get an apprenticeship.”
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