Day 142 - 26 Jun 95 - Page 18
1 and to take counsel with them, and I will help them pick
2 out local counsel because, I do not know, when I go to a
3 place, if that is the issue, I do not know the laws, I do
4 not know the customs. I have got to learn as I go, if you
5 will, and most of the reliance, if you will, needs to be
6 placed upon local people, but I will help try to facilitate
7 it and try to help, because I do have a legal background
8 with the identification of quality of counsel.
9
10 Q. But why do you not save all the money that you spend on
11 that and just say to them: "Look, if some of your workers
12 are interested in trade unions, just let them go ahead and
13 negotiate with them".
14 A. The entire area that you are talking about, the Labour
15 Relations area, is very intricate, special rules. This is
16 not an area for people just to stumble through. This is an
17 area where you need competent people to help you understand
18 what your obligations are, what the respective rights are
19 of the parties, what the government expects, what the
20 Labour Board, if there is a Labour Board, expects.
21
22 You are talking about a very complicated area, and the
23 people who are running McDonald's businesses are business
24 people. They do not have experience in this particular
25 area. The same way that they need to get a good
26 accountant, they need to get good -----
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause there. What is, I think, being
29 suggested to you is that the moment anyone employed at any
30 store expressed a personal desire to be represented by a
31 union, or the moment a union expressed an interest in
32 representing any McDonald's or owner/operator or joint
33 venture partners, employees, why does not McDonald's say:
34 "Well, we will avoid any prospect of a dispute by the
35 union by agreeing union representation here and now"?
36 A. My Lord -----
37
38 Q. Why do you not do that, you are asked?
39 A. If I understand what I am being asked, there are
40 various parties involved in any of these proceedings,
41 whether it be the employees, whether it be the union,
42 whether it be the owner/operator, and everyone needs to
43 understand what their rights and what their
44 responsibilities are.
45
46 You could do something and then criticism or legal
47 ramifications comes from that, or disagreement comes from
48 that among your people. So, it is not just a simple matter
49 of just saying: "Well, why don't you do this?" or "Why
50 don't you do that?" It needs advice and counsel by those
51 who really understand what needs to be done.
52
53 MS. STEEL: You said that you would advise them to get some
54 kind of labour attorney that had experience in this area?
55 A. Good counsel, yes.
56
57 Q. In Labour Relations?
58 A. Good counsel, yes, an expert in the area.
59
60 Q. Why would they not have one already?
