Day 120 - 03 May 95 - Page 06
1 A. The reason I was asked to come down and address them
2 was that some of them were interested in union
3 representation.
4
5 Q. But what I am saying is McDonald's does not have or you did
6 not at that time, any particular concern about any
7 particular union; it was just the union issue itself?
8 A. I did not at that time and I do not now.
9
10 Q. Right. You said in your evidence-in-chief, page 35 of day
11 116 -- I do not have the date -- you told them that if they
12 wanted to join a union they were quite welcome to join a
13 union, we could not stop them; it was their right to join
14 but the Company would not be prepared to negotiate the
15 wages or conditions of service with that union. Did you
16 say anything else to those crew members about their rights
17 or the Company position?
18 A. Yes. I mean, the conversation was longer than that,
19 that is a minute and a half. I told them that we had a
20 strong preference for dealing direct with our work force,
21 and that we had a strong preference for performance related
22 pay, and there was a general backwards and forwards
23 discussion. It was fairly light-hearted for the whole of
24 the meeting.
25
26 Q. Is there anything fundamental that you can remember saying
27 to them which you have not yet said about the Company's
28 position on staff wanting to join unions in a store?
29 A. No, that is it. If they want to join, that is their
30 right to join.
31
32 Q. You did not say anything about if they have a majority vote
33 for union membership, then the Company would be prepared to
34 negotiate?
35 A. I cannot remember; I may well have done but I cannot
36 remember.
37
38 Q. That is something pretty fundamental, is it not, that you
39 failed to remember?
40 A. I do not think so.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Are you putting that it was said?
43
44 MR. MORRIS: No, I am putting to him that it was not said.
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You have to make it clear, you see, because
47 you have merely asked him whether he could remember saying
48 it and he has said he could not.
49
50 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): If you had said that, you would
51 have remembered that; that is a pretty fundamental
52 statement to make, is it not?
53 A. I do not regard it as a pretty fundamental statement to
54 make.
55
56 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would like you to be clear about it
57 because, to my mind at the moment, there seems to be a
58 considerable difference between a majority of the crew in a
59 particular store and the majority of crew employed by
60 McDonald's in a Company which has national pay rates,
