Day 141 - 23 Jun 95 - Page 15
1 this nature, and I would hope that they would have the
2 capability of handling it appropriately, whatever needs to
3 be done, from a McDonald's point of view.
4
5 Q. If we move on from that matter. One general question, the
6 concept of a unit, in the eyes of the NLRB in America,
7 being a legal entity for the purposes of a trade union, for
8 the right to establish a trade union, that does not exist
9 in most countries, does it, that McDonald's is operating
10 in -- that concept?
11 A. I do not know the laws of each and every country
12 sufficiently to really answer that, but, in general, a
13 concept of appropriate unit or appropriate group of
14 employees, I would think, would be -- now I am giving you a
15 wide speculation -- I would think that would be a
16 reasonable principle that you need to determine who the
17 vote should be among or who the collective bargaining
18 rights should be among. I would think that that is a
19 general principle, that you have to identify the group that
20 should be involved.
21
22 Q. Yes. But there is no legal -- it seems to have some kind
23 of legal status in America. For example, I do not believe
24 it happens in this country, unless it is by agreement
25 between the union and the employer, if people form a union
26 branch in a particular workplace?
27 A. I am not an expert on what the law is in England.
28 I have very little knowledge of what the labour laws are.
29 I have no idea. I cannot answer that.
30
31 Q. Part of your responsibility is union and labour disputes?
32 A. No. My responsibility is Human Resources,
33 covering ---
34
35 Q. That includes -----
36 A. -- covering the entire spectrum of those things.
37
38 Q. Part of that is union and labour disputes?
39 A. Labour Relations.
40
41 Q. For McDonald's Corporation?
42 A. Yes.
43
44 Q. It is an important responsibility, is it not?
45 A. I would hope so. I hope others think so.
46
47 Q. So when you get involved and you give advice -----
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Mr. Morris, let me interrupt you. At the
50 moment, it would seem sensible to me that if a union is
51 suggesting that they have some representational status with
52 regard to employees at the Company, or an individual
53 person, that one has to decide what the body of employees
54 is. For instance, if it was someone who ran a series of
55 corner shops, should it be one corner shop, or all general
56 shops have a particular area or not?
57
58 MR. MORRIS: That would be up to the employees and up to their
59 representation to argue.
60
