Day 189 - 20 Nov 95 - Page 13
1
2 Q. But what was the difference between the two? Was there a
3 union there?
4 A. Yes, there was. Before the restaurant opened, the
5 restaurant had approached the Irish Transport and General
6 Workers Union and negotiated with them. So from day one
7 there was a union there.
8
9 Q. Was there union activity there?
10 A. Yes, there was. The management always supplied the
11 union with access to phones. They had their own notice
12 board. Management made the restaurant available for staff
13 meetings in quiet periods. So there was a very different
14 type of relationship that existed there.
15
16 Q. At the Gresham Hotel, was there anything to say about that
17 in terms of its comparison with McDonald's?
18 A. No. Again, the Gresham Hotel is a unionised hotel, and
19 the rates and conditions of employment are very good.
20
21 Q. Looking back at McDonald's, have you anything to say in
22 conclusion about your time there, looking back at it?
23 A. In terms of the dispute or working there?
24
25 Q. In terms of conditions?
26 A. I think -- and this is just a personal view -- that
27 McDonald's operated within a different culture that Irish
28 industry relations experienced that was the norm, by using
29 terms like "crew members", "crew meetings", "training
30 sessions", which were very American orientated. It was as
31 if they were developing an American culture within an Irish
32 industrial relations workforce -- which did not work,
33 because there is a different approach to trade unionism
34 over in Ireland; it is seen as a consensus approach, that
35 unions and management can work together. That was very
36 different.
37
38 In terms of conditions of employment, I had never
39 experienced that before, what was considered low wages then
40 in the industry, because I had worked in unionised
41 industries. That is basically it.
42
43 Q. What about treatment of staff?
44 A. Sorry?
45
46 Q. Anything general to conclude about the treatment of staff?
47 A. Obviously, in terms of the level of pay, that is
48 obviously a fraction of how staff are treated; also, in
49 terms of the break, which was a huge issue and there were
50 constant rows over it; and there were also issues of like
51 how pay awards were worked out. For example, they put it
52 on a kind of increment scale, so it was based on, or you
53 were assessed on your working ability, which caused great
54 difficulties among the staff. The increases they were
55 given -- I mean, only five pence or 10 pence an hour was
56 the maximum increase. I do not believe anybody ever
57 obtained that or, if they did, it was only a very small
58 number of staff. So that created difficulties.
59
60 They also introduced systems like Worker of the Week, for
