Day 142 - 26 Jun 95 - Page 20
1 headed.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Bear in mind that more than one witness on
4 behalf of McDonald's has said that the policy of McDonald's
5 is, or the preference of McDonald's, and I think one at
6 least has said the strong preference, is to deal with
7 employees direct and not through a third party such as a
8 union. That, I thought, was common ground.
9
10 MS. STEEL: Is that correct, that you prefer not to deal with
11 unions?
12 A. We would prefer to deal directly with our employees
13 rather than through a third party.
14
15 Q. You would prefer not to deal with unions; is that correct?
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It must be the same thing.
18
19 MS. STEEL: Perhaps the witness could just say "yes" then; it
20 would save time?
21 A. If it is interpreted as the same thing, my Lord, then
22 that is what it is.
23
24 MR. JUSTICE BELL: A union is third party so it must be the same
25 thing; just as if it was a government minister, he or she
26 would be a third party?
27 A. That is correct.
28
29 Q. So it would be the same thing there.
30
31 MS. STEEL: You say about dealing directly with employees
32 rather than through a third party, and you mentioned in
33 your evidence-in-chief about you prefer to negotiate
34 directly with the crew. When has the Company ever
35 negotiated wages with crew?
36 A. When someone comes to -- I can speak in general, my
37 Lord, and I think it is a general question -- when someone
38 wants to come to work at McDonald's they discuss their
39 experience, they discuss their background, they discuss how
40 they would fit into, if you will, the wage structure that
41 exists.
42
43 Q. So, basically, McDonald's has this wage structure; they
44 tell you what their experience is, what their age is and
45 you tell them what rate of pay they would get for that?
46 A. And the Manager would discuss that, and see if there is
47 a meeting of minds, if you will, between the employee and
48 the manager.
49
50 Q. There are no collective negotiations between McDonald's and
51 the crew over wages, are there?
52 A. Are you asking me a worldwide question?
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. I think this question must be directed
55 at the United States because it seems to me the situation
56 is different between the United States and this country.
57 In this country the very large majority of stores are run
58 by the Company itself. They have rates which nationally --
59 they may vary as to whether you are in a large city, such
60 as London, and if you are whether you are in the middle of
