Day 116 - 26 Apr 95 - Page 33
1 rid of it for a nuisance value, what we call a nuisance
2 value, a couple of hundred pounds or something, it makes
3 all kind of commercial sense to pay the £200 and settle it
4 and get rid of it.
5
6 Q. Does this grievance procedure work in your experience?
7 A. Yes.
8
9 Q. Is there an extent to which, therefore, it consists of
10 resolution by the various people engaged at the various
11 stages on the way up? You have to say "yes" if you nod
12 your head because you will not be heard by the tape?
13 A. I beg your pardon, I should know I have been sitting
14 here.
15
16 Q. There is a degree of resolution, is there?
17 A. There is a great deal of resolution, yes.
18
19 Q. Roughly speaking, what proportion of these grievance
20 procedure cases wind up in what one might call a standoff
21 where neither side will give ground?
22 A. Very, very rare.
23
24 Q. Trade unions, Mr. Nicholson: The theme of the defence to
25 this action on this part of the case is that McDonald's,
26 I summarise, is implacably hostile to trade unions
27 throughout the world (I am not going to ask you about any
28 part of the world except the United Kingdom) and that as a
29 subsidiary consequence of that implacable hostility anyone
30 who joins or even expresses the wish to join a trade union
31 will almost certainly be sacked. You have read the
32 pleadings in this case?
33 A. Yes, I have.
34
35 Q. Can you comment upon that proposition, assuming I have
36 summarised it correctly?
37 A. It is nonsense.
38
39 Q. In your time as head of personnel and as Ombudsman of this
40 company employing now some 31,000 or whatever it is people
41 in this country, have there, as far as you are aware, been
42 cases where people have been sacked for joining or wanting
43 to join a trade union?
44 A. No.
45
46 Q. Are you sure about that?
47 A. Emphatically.
48
49 Q. What is the company's attitude towards unionisation of its
50 work-force in its restaurants?
51 A. We would prefer to deal with our staff ourselves. We
52 do not particularly want to deal with a third party outside
53 organisation. We are very, very much in support of
54 performance-related pay: those who work well are paid
55 well. For that reason, we would rather not deal with trade
56 unions. But we have no objections to the members joining a
57 trade union. There must be many, many members of trade
58 unions amongst our staff.
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Could you just pause a moment. One thing
