Day 119 - 02 May 95 - Page 13
1 tremendous heat. I have no concerns. I have no concerns
2 but, of course, I am no kind of an expert.
3
4 Q. So the way it was shown there did not give you any concern?
5 A. No.
6
7 Q. These are in no particular order. The rap sessions that
8 were shown, was that a fairly typical rap session, as far
9 as you could see?
10 A. That was one of the things that surprised me. For a
11 start off, I could not make out at first which store the
12 rap session was being held at, but I had a feeling that
13 Paul Hickling was in direct command. That is the lad who
14 was running the rap ---
15
16 Q. Yes, he was the Supervisor --
17 A. -- of that restaurant and that is unusual.
18
19 Q. He was billed as the Supervisor?
20 A. Yes, but that is unusual for the Supervisor of the
21 store to hold the rap session. The Supervisor, generally,
22 comes from another region, not another region but another
23 market. So that raised a question in my mind but -----
24
25 Q. Apart from his presence then?
26 A. Yes, well, that was one thing. The other one was it
27 did not spark on me at all.
28
29 Q. Pardon?
30 A. I have been to other rap sessions where it has been a
31 livelier debate than that one was.
32
33 Q. It was bit inhibited?
34 A. I thought it was very inhibited, and I wondered whether
35 the cameras had not been the inhibiting factor.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can we put it this way? It is obvious that
38 you are bound to wonder what effect the camera is having on
39 people, whether it makes them self-conscious, whether when
40 they are doing a job where speed is thought to be important
41 they go that bit quicker for the camera. But when you are
42 looking at the rap session, were those the sort of
43 questions that were asked?
44 A. Yes. There is a set formula that the supervisor goes
45 through. There are guide, notes of guidance, for holding
46 rap sessions, and the supervisor follows those notes, that
47 he makes sure he covers every subject with the crew. The
48 crew have every opportunity to respond to him. So, yes, in
49 that sense it was following the formula, but, as I say,
50 I do not go to too many or I never did go to too many rap
51 sessions, because rap sessions are rather private affairs.
52 There are the elected members of the crew representing all
53 the other crew members and it is very much a private
54 meeting between them and the supervisor conducting the
55 rap. The few that I have been to certainly have been much
56 much livelier than that one.
57
58 Q. It said on the film that the crew members put themselves
59 forward to come to a rap session and then the management
60 choose who is allowed to attend; is that fair?
