Day 196 - 06 Dec 95 - Page 11
1 A. Yes.
2
3 Q. "3.5 - Please give all examples you can remember with
4 names, if possible, of the dates schedules being used 'in a
5 discriminatory way'. Answer: Good hours to favour people,
6 i.e. number of hours they wished, best shifts. Anyone
7 rocking the boat would get worse hours or worse jobs,
8 especially when business was lower. Could get rid of
9 people this way, about once every six months maybe, but we
10 could fail someone's probationary review. MFF", which is
11 McDonald's Freedom Fighters, yes?
12 A. That is correct, yes.
13
14 Q. "... was a special case of getting rid of people using
15 various means. The person who does the schedule has
16 enormous power in the store (usually Assistant Manager).
17 After summer holidays we had to get rid a lot of people as
18 it was quieter. Some left if they only wished to work for
19 the summer, but others were just scheduled few hours or 0
20 hours. Favoured people would be retained. Others would
21 get the message and quit.
22
23 Question 3.6 - Please state (a) who told you to 'use your
24 scheduling power to favour some crew at the expense of
25 others', (b) when and where you were told, (c) whether you
26 obeyed the instructs, if so (d) all the examples you can
27 remember with names and, if possible, dates when you did
28 this. Answer: This was the standard way to do it from Mark
29 Davis onwards."
30
31 So did it happen occasionally or was it widespread or all
32 the time?
33 A. It would be a standard procedure throughout the time at
34 the company.
35
36 Q. When you say from Mark Davies onwards, do you mean from the
37 time he was Store Manager onwards?
38 A. My career actually followed Mark Davies through, so it
39 would be from that time. Basically he was my superior for
40 most of the time.
41
42 Q. "Question (4) Trade Unions. 4.1 - Please state how it
43 became 'clear' to you that 'the Company did not want any
44 union activity' and that 'this was an unwritten rule',
45 giving the names of any of your superiors who gave you this
46 impression and the dates and places when this happened.
47 Answer: It was just obvious. Unions were taboo. Any union
48 activity would have been a challenge to the total control
49 needed around the store to achieve the targets, etc. Rap
50 sessions were touted as an alternative to show that 'unions
51 are not needed', but they were completely ineffectual as
52 regards employees' rights. Supervisors use them to collect
53 information on Managers.
54
55 4.2 - Please state how you know that 'the company took this
56 (the McDonald's Freedom Fighters) very seriously'. Answer:
57 I was told we had to get rid of those involved, but to do
58 it on pretext. It came up at a weekly Managers' meeting
59 I attended.
60
