Apprentices want better opportunities, transferable skill recognition, as well as more pay and mentoring, according to apprentices who attended an AMWU conference last week.

The apprentices and trainee members of the AMWU met in Brisbane for two days and have decided to take action to improve the apprenticeship experience.

Joel Kowald, from Hastings Deering, said he now felt confident to stand up on issues in his workplace.

“I want to improve the training in my workplace, specifically mentoring”, he said. 

Joel also planned to organise a forum on adult apprentice pay and a recruitment campaign for other apprentices at Hastings Deering.

As part of the conference’s activities, each participant developed an individual action plan aimed at improving apprentices’ experiences and engagement in their own workplaces. Many apprentices came away planning to become more involved as apprentice delegates or as members on union collective agreement negotiation committees.

Other action plans involved organising forums and conducting apprentice recruitment campaigns in the workplace.

Andrew Dettmer, AMWU Queensland State Secretary said it was crucial that action was the outcome of the conference.

“It was fantastic to see how switched-on and dedicated our next generation of activists and leaders are”, he said.

“It is vital that young people in manufacturing are aware of their rights, and know that being in a union means they can do something about their concerns.

Kate Perry, AMWU Training Advisor, said the aims of the conference were to educate apprentices on their rights in the workplace, provide opportunities for apprentices and trainees to share their experiences, and to discuss the future of the manufacturing industry and the impact that conference participants could make on it.

“It was a great to talk about the issues and how to make things better. Some of the ideas they came up with were really inspiring”, she said.

Around thirty apprentices and trainees from Queensland and the Northern Territory attended the conference.The conference theme was ‘Our rights, our jobs, our future’ and it included practical workshops, information sessions and panel discussions with AMWU leaders and employers.