Day 115 - 06 Apr 95 - Page 38
1 Q. Was that always the case, were they always thrown into the
2 drawer?
3 A. Only at the latter end of my working at Sun Valley
4 because the times got shorter, the working times put
5 pressure on you and the conditions and the pressure you was
6 put under to get the work carried out in the length of
7 time.
8
9 Q. So when you started can you just explain how they were put
10 in the drawers when you started?
11 A. When I started at Sun Valley I worked with five men and
12 the times was different. You did not have so much
13 work-load and the pressure was not so greatly to get this
14 job carried out as fast as you can. I would say that even
15 at the end the job was, it was made to be carried out as
16 fast as possible. When you got less men to do the job and
17 if there was one man off, you still did not get no-one else
18 to replace him. However many men was in the team on that
19 night, being six men, five men, four men, you were still
20 expected to catch the amount of chickens for the time given
21 to load that lorry.
22
23 Q. When you started there were you more careful about
24 how -----
25 A. You were not under so much pressure when I
26 first started. It was more of a relaxed atmosphere, not so
27 much rushing.
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You started in 1987. Can you remember when
30 you moved from five man teams to larger teams?
31 A. Yes.
32
33 Q. When was that, can you remember the year, I mean?
34 A. Not exactly. Probably, this would not be a true date,
35 but I would say within 12 months of me starting there, but
36 I would not be 100 per cent sure about that date.
37
38 MS. STEEL: Just to clarify, the catching was basically the
39 same, it was just you had a bit more time so you were a bit
40 more careful about putting them in drawers?
41 A. They seemed to be a bit more relaxed. I think the time
42 might have been a bit longer, but I am not 100 per cent
43 sure about that, but you were not under so much pressure of
44 doing seven or eight loads a night. You was doing three
45 loads where you took your time, and the demand for the
46 birds in the factory were not so great because the intake
47 was not so great at that time.
48
49 Q. But at that time when you started, the method was still
50 picking the birds up by the leg?
51 A. One leg, yes.
52
53 Q. What would happen to any sick or injured birds that were at
54 the farms?
55 A. If they was flapping or running about or whatever, they
56 would go in the crate and go to the factory. On a number
57 of occasions you would see birds there with broken legs or
58 wings or scabs on them. The farmer said: "This is all
59 part of our crop; it goes to the factory".
60
