Day 120 - 03 May 95 - Page 08

     
     1        A.  No.
     2
     3   Q.   "You are all welcome to join a trade union if you want"?
     4        A.  Not at all.  You do not understand the relationship
     5        between Head Office personnel and our restaurants.  We take
     6        every opportunity we can of visiting restaurants.  I was
     7        telephoned and asked if I would go down and address the
     8        crew.  It was not terribly out of my way from our Head
     9        Office to where I live.  I asked if it could be arranged
    10        for an evening.  It was arranged for an evening and
    11        I attended and enjoyed attending.
    12
    13   Q.   Did you ask them about why they wanted to join a trade
    14        union?
    15        A.  I think I did.
    16
    17   Q.   What did they say about that?
    18        A.  There were only, if I remember correctly, no more than
    19        two or three -- there were only a dozen people there --
    20        there were only two or three who made any remarks at all of
         any certainty about wishing to be represented by a union.
    22
    23   Q.   What did they say?  What were the reasons given?
    24        A.  I cannot remember the exact words now, but they wanted
    25        to be represented by a union.  I am not sure if they even
    26        realised why they wanted to be represented by a union.
    27
    28   Q.   You did not think it was important to find out?
    29        A.  No.
    30
    31   Q.   You were not concerned about what they thought was the
    32        problem ---
    33        A.  Oh, yes.
    34
    35   Q.  -- and why they thought there should be union
    36        representation?
    37        A.  I asked them if they had a problem.  There were no
    38        specific problems.  They just wanted to be represented by a
    39        union.
    40
    Q.   Did you keep any record at all of this meeting?
    42        A.  No, I regarded it as strictly informal.
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What are the areas of function of an Area
    45        Security Manager?
    46        A.  He is responsible for the security, the physical
    47        security of the store, the elimination of criminal activity
    48        by our own staff, and at that time they were also
    49        responsible for fire and fire regulations.
    50 
    51   Q.   Anything else that ----- 
    52        A.  Their main function was to carry out a security audit 
    53        on the restaurant, and that would include documentary
    54        security, product security, physical security of the store
    55        itself, proper procedures were being followed by management
    56        and crew in regard to security matters, and investigation,
    57        of course, of any allegations of crime from any source.
    58
    59   Q.   Why go with the Area Security Officer?  Why not go with the
    60        Supervisor or someone like that?