A Civilising Influence

Business is booming for Wellington panelbeater Grant Lewis, and he has filled the need for extra hands at Edwards Panel and Paint in Lyall Bay with three apprentices. He credits his youngest apprentice, Maree Montgomery, with being a civilising influence. With Maree there, the guys aren't going to be so coarse, Grant says. "It's quite good having a woman around. It evens the balance a little," he says. 

 

He takes her arrival as a sign that the industry is changing from the old days when apprenticeships could be really tough. "People were given a hard time with all sorts of nasty things," he says. "I don't think it happens now, or not that I know of.

 

"Everyone's pretty aware now these days of how to treat people, not only different genders. Everyone's the same really. She's fitted in quite easily."

 

Grant, who has been in the industry for 30 years, says he's always wanted to have a female apprentice, especially as a spraypainter, but he could never get one before. "I think they'd be good in the painting industry. Good at fine finishing and they're quite particular. Plus they compete against the guys. They like to do a good job." 

 

Grant says the guys compete as well, and a certain amount of good-natured jibing goes on in the workshop. 

 

Grant's business employs ten people in total including four panel and four paint workers. Usually it would be quite hard to find apprentices but he's been both lucky and pro-active. Rongotai College is not far away, and by talking to the school's careers advisor he found a boy who was thinking of leaving school who had potential as an apprentice. Matthew started as a car groomer and is now signed on as an apprentice. 

 

Maree was introduced to Grant by her father, an engineer who works across the road. Maree's father could see that she had had enough of school and he wanted her to have a job for the holidays. "She's always worked with her father on bikes in his garage, fixing stuff mechanically. He thought it'd be a good idea to get her a job in a workshop."

 

The holiday job never really finished. After a few months Grant got the Motor Industry Training Organisation (MITO) to interview Maree and her father, to see whether a Modern Apprenticeship would be suitable and Maree began her training. 

 

"She likes working on cars. She doesn't want to sit in an office, she says. So, she's proving herself. She's great."