Day 194 - 01 Dec 95 - Page 11
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2 MR. MORRIS: You might be disappointed by this witness.
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4 (To the witness): Can you explain the response you got
5 from people that you talked to about this matter? Just
6 explain the situation.
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8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me ask, and then Mr. Morris can ask
9 again. You were interested in unions at the time, were
10 you, or the possibility of joining?
11 A. I became interested, yes.
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13 Q. While you were there?
14 A. Yes.
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16 Q. Just let me make a note. You say: "Because of a number of
17 practices at the store that I and my colleagues felt were
18 unfair, we talked about joining a union." All I want to
19 know is how many people, by your account, actually showed
20 an interest in joining a union?
21 A. OK.
22
23 Q. How many people do you think were on the list of crew at
24 East Ham, if you know, and how many do you think showed an
25 interest?
26 A. OK. Because of the fear we had for our jobs of being
27 in, if we joined a union, we obviously kept it very close
28 to our chests, and we only discussed it with a small number
29 of people. I would say somewhere between six to ten showed
30 an interest in joining a union. As far as I know, only
31 I actually joined a union. Some of those people left quite
32 soon after we discussed it and -----
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34 Q. Just pause there. (Pause) Yes. Do you want to add
35 anything?
36 A. Well, yes. The people who were more interested in
37 joining a union were the people who were having particular
38 problems with management; and once people started having
39 problems with management, they would not tend to stay there
40 for very long. This was the problem that we would have had
41 to establish the branch of the union in East Ham.
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43 MR. MORRIS: Now, you said that: "One junior manager advised us
44 McDonald's did not like trade unions." Do you know the
45 name of that manager?
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47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. Do not answer that question. I am
48 sorry. I adhere to my ruling. You know what I am
49 interested in from this witness. Just, please, stick to
50 it.
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52 MR. MORRIS: Well -----
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54 MS. STEEL: It does not actually make any difference to us, but
55 it might be helpful to the Plaintiffs.
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57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I do not think it would. Please follow my
58 direction and my guide, and ask Mr. Sutcliffe if he knows
59 about the meeting. I have the picture very fully. The
60 last answer which he has given me does not surprise me one
