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experience:
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McDonald's crew member
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summary:
The witness states the variance in treatment from the McDonald management in the various stores in which he worked.
cv:
I have worked at five differnet stores of the McDonald's Fast Food Outlet chain.
I worked approx 10 hours a week for 4 months during 1980 as a crew member at the Ilford store.
In March 1983 I started at the Romford store as full-time crew. moved to the Colchester store when it opened in June 1984, and stayed there until approx January 1987.
From approx May 1988 I worked at Nottingham McDonald's for a few weeks then in July 1988 I transferred to Birmingham High Street, and stayed there until January 1989.
I was in the Training Squad for approx 2 years.
Full cv:
(not available for this witness)
full statement:
I have worked in five McDonald's stores: Ilford, Romford, Colchester, Nottingham and Birmingham High St.
On one occasion at Colchester, I arrived late for a shift due to the 6.45am bus from Halstead being cancelled. In spite of trying unsuccessfully to ring the store my story was not believed by the floor manager Joe Cunningham, and I was suspended with pay for the rest of the week. My hours were cut from 8-4pm to 10-4pm as a punishment. This was in spite of the fact I was hardly ever late.
Before moving to Colchester I worked at Romford and enjoyed paid breaks. As this was not the custom at Colchester, I was given a pay rise of ten pence per hour and my paid breaks were cancelled. This was done without consulting me and the first I knew of it was when the pay rise appeared on my pay slip. This was in spite of the fact they should have offered to keep paid breaks. As I was worse off I never signed any papers giving them permission to do so.
At all stores I have worked you have been pressurised to finish your break early if the store was busy. No one was allowed to finish a break in their busy periods, and some crew members did not get a break at all on Saturday shifts.
Also at some stores your weekly shifts could be changed without notifying you, if you ever questoned this the management would say that you must have read the schedule wrongly.
At Romford store 1985 a second assistant Graham Woods fell with two pickle buckets of hot shortening and was very badly burnt. This was because there was no proper urn to discard the shortening into making it much safer.
On two occasiosn at Colchester my holiday pay was delayed by a month each time. This happened to other crew members also receiving holiday pay when not requesting it.
At Birminghma High St I left because of unfair bonuses which were paid
out to managers favouring (?) crew members.
supplementary statement:
I worked approx 10 hours a week for 4 months during 1980 as a crew member at the Ilford store.
In March 1983 I started at the Romford store as full-time crew. moved to the Colchester store when it opened in June 1984, and stayed there until approx January 1987.
From approx May 1988 I worked at Nottingham McDonald's for a few weeks then in July 1988 I transferred to Birmingham High Street, and stayed there until January 1989.
I was in the Training Squad for approx 2 years.
I generally worked 30-35 hours a week, sometinies 40 or so hours. At the Colchester store I usually worked 4 out of 5 week days, and Saturdays, from 8am - 4 or 5 pm. At Romford I was fully flex and so worked hours all over the place.
I sometimes worked until 4am at the Romford store after starting at 5pm. I was aware of other people working long shifts, as I was an opener at Colchester and would see people still there after all night closes. People would be asked to stay late, but it was manipulative, things were made awkward if you didn't agree.
I recall late closes approx every couple of months, when bigwigs were visiting. There would be panic about the visits.
If I finished at l a.m. a taxi would be paid for, but I lived 14 miles outside Colchester, so they knew that was the only way they could get me to work late. I didn't generally work later than l a.m. because I was usually in again early the next morning.
Under 18's
I witnessed under 18 year olds working past the legal hours at Romford, Colchester and Birmingham. They were usually asked to stay on. I am not aware of how they were paid.
I recall times at Colchester when my paid hours were short - I queried this with the managers , and the pay would be added to the next payslip. I kept a record of the hours I worked so I knew they were short.
I remember the McDonald's Freedom Fighters, but I was not part of it. I recall that Paul Jackson was dismissed.
Sewage in the Kitchen
I went to a lot of crew meetings and rap sessions, to try and make my feelings felt, but although it might make things different for a week or two, it was no good in the long run. You had to keep complaining to get things done. There were 'frequent problems with the filtering machine at Colchester. No-one seemed to bother about getting a new one. You had to mess about to get it to work, had to tear filter papers. Fat would be poured down the sink/drain. I remember occasions when this led to sewage in the kitchen area. I remember a couple of occasions when people mopped up sewage in the kitchen area whilst cooking/food preparation carried on. The store was not closed.
Safety Ignored
Burns and cuts were not really taken seriously, they were not usually put in the accident book. We were told all the time to 'hustle', this meant move quickly. At the counter people would be running, especially on Saturdays.
Scrimping on the Lettuce
Lettuce came in bags, shredded, we were told to use the lettuce sparingly, in small portions. When they were short of pickles we would be told to just use one.
At the Colchester store, cheese slices were cut in two. One piece would be a third of a slice, and that would be used on the filets, and the other piece would be two thirds of a'slice and would be used on burgers. I can't remember the reason given for doing this.
Lettuce would be used that was past its sell by date. I can remember some that had started to go rotten. I was told to clean out the grotty bits and use some of the better parts. This was to cut waste food costs.
Holding Times Abused
Holding times in the' production bins would be abused, the times would be changed, to cut waste costs.
If the filtering machine was not working properly I was told to tear the filter paper with an implement which was normally used to push up the filter tubes. Mark Davis told me to do this. I didn't always wear the protective equipment, particularly the head gear, as it was uncomfortable and greasy. I was never reprimanded for this. At the Colchester store I was working as if I was a crew member, as part of the training process.
Generally people were rushing around the store even when it wasn't busy - this was the hustle element. Managers were encouraged to verbally prompt people to hurry - 'lets have some hustle'. In my experience nowhere else do people work as quickly, or is it expected of you as part and parcel of the job. McDonald's is a very pressurised environment and nowhere else are you expected to work at that level for such long periods of time.
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date signed:
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2nd July ,1993
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status:
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Appeared in court
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references: Not applicable/available
exhibits: Not applicable/ available
transcripts of court appearances:
related links:
