Wednesday, March 6, 1968 There are presently eighty apprentices registered with the Department as fol¬ lows: Auto Body Repair—3; Carpentry—13; Electrical Construction—18; Plumbing__ 19; Motor Vehicle Repair—24; Sheet Metal—3. There were fifty-eight apprentices registered on the 31st of January, 1967, and there were eight completions with eleven drop-outs, and forty-one new registra¬ tions, as of January 31st, 1968. There were eighty apprentices registered giving a net increase of 22 over last year. The projections of apprentices for next year, which are based on the Vocational School Grade XII class, and the pre-apprenticeship classes now in progress would indicate a possible 147 persons. There should be sixteen completions in May, 1968, for a net estimate of 131 persons as registered apprentices this year. The Provincial Advisory Board met twelve times during the year, while the Trade and Advisory on Examining Committee held a composite total of 28 meetings during the year. On Thursday, March 7th, and that is tomorrow, the Apprenticeship Division has convened a conference of Labor. Management and Government on apprentice¬ ship and productivity to be held at the Provincial Vocational Institut. Invitations have been extended to the Members of this House and I would urge that as many of you as possible attend at least some of the sessions. It is our feeling that everyone should know more about our Apprenticeship Training Program, its benefits and particularly its impact on productivity within our economy. As mentioned earlier, the Labor Standards Division was established in October, 1967. Since that time 165 calls have been made on employers across the Province to acquaint them with var¬ ious acts. Twenty-seven complaints were received under the Vacation Pay and $1,945 was recovered for 231 employees. Seventeen complaints were filed under th Minimum Wage for Men and eleven investigations completed resulted in a re¬ covery of $10,850.52 to eighty-two employees. Six complaints are presently being in¬ vestigated. One complaint was filed under the Women 's Minimum Wage result¬ ing in one employee receiving a vacation as set out in the Board Order under the . No complaints were received under the Equal Pay and no applications were received under the Industrial Standards . In addition to the above inves¬ tigation several routine inspections were carried out and, where violations were found, the employer made adjustments on his own initiative. A good public rela¬ tions approach on these investigations has been shown by the Inspector . The Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspector joined the staff of the Department on May 1st. 1967. His first assignment was to review the Steam Boiler and to draft regulations in order to commence inspection operations. The regulations were approved Sept. 20th, 1967. The work load of the Inspector to the end of February is very impressive. Initial inspections, re-inspections and regulations: 101. Pressure Vessel Certificates issued—30. Boiler Repair Inspections—2. Boiler Hydrostatic Tests—2. Boiler In¬ spections, External—18. City Schools—7. Drawings approved and registered—9. Welding procedures approved—2. Welders tested—2. Pleasure Vessel Certificates held - defects—3. To indicate the value of inspection service the following poten¬ tially dangerous situations were discovered. Safety valves sticking, set and sealed—4. Safety valves not operating—6. Boiler low water control not operating—1. Make-up water valve to boiler sticking—2. Mr. Cannon , the Inspector, reports that he is re¬ ceiving excellent co-operation from the various establishments inspected and that the management of these establishments are highly pleased that these services are now available. Who knows how many lives will be saved or how many injuries will be prevented by this organized and continuous inspection service? From Jan. 1st, 1967, to Feb. 29th, 1968, the Labor-Management Relations Council met seventeen times with an average attendance of 90r/r, the duration of the meetings lasting from one to four hours. Two sub-committees have been very active, one of the Industrial Relations and the second on communications Several Council members attended the sixth Joint Study Conference in Halifax in November, 1967. The Chairman and two Council members attended a Labor-Management Conference called by Economic Council of Canada held in Ottawa March, 1967. Industrial accidents costs during 1967 amounted to $634,542 as compared to $551,880 in 1966, an increase of $82,662. In 1966 there were two fatal accidents and in 1967 there were 14, including the dis¬ aster of Iceland Two. There were 2,300 claims in 1967, compared to 2,562 in 1966 with 14 permanent partial disability in 1966 as compared with 7 in 1967. At the same —145—