As a union with a long history of engagement in vocational education and training and apprenticeship in the printing and graphic arts industries, the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union was interested to consider John Jarvis’s article “A new perspective on printing and graphic arts training and recruitment” (ProPrint Oct 2008) in the context of our own experiences.
John makes some observations with which we are in heated agreement, and some we would question. What’s important, however, is that John has made a useful contribution to what is emerging as a significant issue for the industry and we are keen, as the principal union in this sector, to contribute to that debate.
Like many industries, the printing and graphic arts industries are challenged on a number of fronts:
• increasing competition from low cost countries;
• increasing penetration of complex technology;
• decreasing capacity to attract new entrants to the industry;
• declining capacity to retain skilled workers and aging of the workforce.
It is clear that no matter what other factors may influence whether the industry has a strong and vibrant future, without skills, and a capacity to deliver and effectively exploit them, there will be no answer.
Mr Jarvis recounts a little of the history around the National Training System that saw the development of systems designed to drive national consistency in training delivery around the concept of competency, which was to be defined by the industry parties through National Industry Training Advisory Bodies like the National Printing Industry Training Council (NPITC).
He is absolutely correct in observing that the new framework “…provided for a much more flexible training approach…”.
The subtext, if we are correct in our reading of Mr Jarvis’s article, is that what was started in the training reform processes under ANTA, has stalled and in some cases fallen back since the responsibility for ongoing reform reverted back into the bureaucracy following the abolition of ANTA.
With this we wholeheartedly agree and we look forward to the newly formed Skills Australia taking an aggressively independent stance in support of a national training system in which the industry parties, through properly structured and resourced Industry Skills Councils, take the lead.
Sadly, Mr Jarvis is also absolutely correct in observing that there has been a decline in the intake of young people into the industry. This, however, is not confined to the printing and graphic arts industries.
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