Day 133 - 12 Jun 95 - Page 48
1 A. Yes, but there are also things like promotion which may
2 occur during that time as well. I would simply add that.
3
4 Q. Of course, during that time the rates for the rest of
5 industry would have gone up as well?
6 A. They may have done, but also during that time it is
7 quite likely that our rates would have been reviewed again
8 as well.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I just ask, Ms. Steel, do you actually
11 have a witness or evidence you are going to call as to what
12 rates were? I know you have the point about catering
13 generally being low, but what the rates were in catering,
14 for instance, in a year you might take? Because, if you
15 have not, you might think about -- the New Earnings Surveys
16 are not very expensive. You may not be able to get a back
17 one now, but if I can just give you an example?
18
19 If you got the New Earnings Survey which was based on
20 research done by the Department of Employment in the year
21 up to April 1990, if they were done to Aprils -- I think
22 they were but I just cannot really remember -- that year
23 would cover, essentially, the dates when you are alleged to
24 have published this leaflet, or participated in the
25 publication of this leaflet.
26
27 The New Earnings Surveys are mines of information. You
28 have to get the ones which are most appropriate, it will
29 probably be A and then whichever one catering appears in.
30 They are done by areas; they are done by jobs and so on.
31 Then if you thought the comparison helped you, you could
32 see if McDonald's were prepared to agree the information on
33 certain pages which you can photograph. They are all
34 tabulated columns. You can just photograph a similar page
35 and say: "Do you agree this?" If they do agree that, then
36 you can look at your June 1989 figures on page 672 because
37 they are the rates which then prevailed over the period
38 when you are alleged to have participated in the
39 publication of the leaflet, and you can present whatever
40 argument you want to.
41
42 I do not know. You may think that, whether or not it is in
43 a present statement or document, you can do better than
44 that, but it is just something I suggest. It is just as
45 easy to look at as G1.
46
47 MS. STEEL: Right. We will see if we can get hold of a copy.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you cannot get the exact ones, what I know
50 a lot of courts have accepted -- certainly in another
51 jurisdiction -- you can look at the rates have risen over
52 the years before or the years afterwards and work out that,
53 by and large, they have risen on an average of something
54 like 2 and 3 per cent per annum. You can do a bit of
55 mental arithmetic. It is not precise but on balance of
56 probability it is good enough to give a pointer of what the
57 rate would have been in a missing year. Do not forget, we
58 are not just interested in hourly rates; we are interested
59 in what people get at the end of the week.
60
