Day 139 - 21 Jun 95 - Page 13
1 matters you have put, come back to it.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: We will have to work out what we go on to next.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Sit down and get yourself straight.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: (To the witness) You said that something like
8 13 per cent of the US labour force is unionised?
9 A. That is correct, sir.
10
11 Q. Is that percentage lower than it used to be?
12 A. It has been decreasing over the last number of years,
13 yes.
14
15 Q. Has that been decreasing not only obviously across the
16 board, but within each industry as well, in terms of
17 percentage?
18 A. I do not feel qualified to answer that.
19
20 Q. Has it been decreasing in the catering industry?
21 A. I do not know. I have never seen specific numbers with
22 regard to what you refer to as the catering industry. All
23 I have ever seen are statistics dealing with the nation as
24 a whole.
25
26 Q. Some towns have a strong tradition of union organisation?
27 A. That is correct.
28
29 Q. We have a witness who was in charge of the organising
30 driving, in Detroit in 1980, amongst McDonald's workers.
31 A. OK.
32
33 Q. He is going to say that 65 per cent of McDonald's workers
34 at three stores signed union authorisation cards which led
35 to a petition and an election. If that is the case, when
36 you investigated that, did you find out if the case was
37 that there was greater discontent amongst the work force or
38 that -- what was the reason for that level of open interest
39 in union organisation, when you went down to investigate?
40 A. You are asking me, or -----
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me put it another way for you, because
43 you have already said that you do not know whether it was
44 65 per cent, because it does not tell you what the figure
45 is; you just know it is at least 30, because they are going
46 ahead with the petition.
47
48 If something like two-thirds of crew in three Detroit
49 McDonald's restaurants had filled in cards showing a
50 preference for or interest in union representation, if that
51 had happened, can you think of any particular reason why
52 that should be so?
53 A. It could be a variety -- my Lord, it could be a variety
54 of reasons. It depends upon what the cards may have asked
55 them. The cards may have suggested -----
56
57 Q. Are they not in set forms set down by the NLRB?
58 A. No, they are not, sir. It is an expression of some
59 interest in perhaps having an election; it may be seeking
60 membership; it may be just expressing a preference to have
