Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 63


     
     1        well.
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I do not even know at the moment whether
     4        Mr. Jenssen is going to give one jot of additional evidence
     5        to that which appears in his statement.  I will deal with
     6        the problem, if there is a problem, when I know what, if
     7        anything, he is going to deal with.  I have let you ask
     8        Mr. Pearson about a number of matters which were neither in
     9        his statement nor in the note which Mr. Morris gave the
    10        other day which referred to overtime and performance
    11        related pay, because I was interested in what he could do
    12        which might help me on a number of topics, but you must
    13        read again the ruling I have made.  It is a ruling.
    14
    15        If you do not like it, you must seek leave to appeal and go
    16        to the Court of Appeal to try to override it.  I do not
    17        make rulings -- I am not getting at you -- just so that we
    18        can argue the toss about them a week later.
    19
    20        So the best thing to do would be to adjourn now and get
    21        talking to Mr. Jenssen.
    22
    23   MR. MORRIS:  Yes, I am going to do that.  I would like just to
    24        inform you what the schedule is, where we have got new
    25        people added to the schedule.
    26
    27   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have to say that I think with regard to
    28        trade unions, having read the leaflet, I am not suggesting
    29        that Mr. Jenssen's evidence in his statement is not
    30        relevant, I think it is towards the periphery in this case
    31        in the light of all the other evidence you have got for me
    32        to assess, to decide what I accept and, more importantly,
    33        to decide what conclusions I draw from the evidence which
    34        I accept.
    35
    36        This is not a press conference about McDonald's employment
    37        practices.  It is a question of me hearing the evidence and
    38        making relevant findings as they relate to the leaflet and
    39        the issues which arise from it.
    40
    41   MR. MORRIS:  I agree that, you know, all our witnesses are being
    42        called because they are witnesses of fact about relevant
    43        points.  We had three months of McDonald's employment
    44        witnesses, most of which I would describe as propaganda,
    45        but we are not trying to counter their propaganda with
    46        propaganda of our own.  We are calling what we see as
    47        relevant witnesses of fact about their specific experiences
    48        and, at the end of the day, it is for yourself to decide.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I have said what I have said.  I am not going 
    51        to say any more unless it appears that I am prejudging the 
    52        issue one way or the other on various topics because I am 
    53        not.  I keep on open mind right until the end of the day.
    54        I would have thought, quite frankly, if you put
    55        Mr. Jenssen's statement in and asked him to verify that,
    56        you would have got what is important from Mr. Jenssen.
    57
    58   MR. MORRIS:  I will bear that in mind.
    59
    60   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Bear that in mind.  Go away and talk to

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