Day 173 - 16 Oct 95 - Page 59
1 145 cannot be -- sorry, 45 cannot be the majority, can it?
2 A. No, 45 out of 150 is not.
3
4 Q. Especially if it includes management as well, which are not
5 ----
6 A. I think there were two managers that we can see, right.
7
8 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not assuming it is the majority.
9 Subject to anything Mr. Rampton says, the evidence is that
10 only a minority were members of a union. I say "the
11 evidence is" -- that is what the union case was.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: But the union's case was that the majority of
14 full-timers ----
15
16 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Where do you get that?
17
18 MR. MORRIS: If we look at page 978 we see an official leaflet
19 of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union official
20 strike. The second sentence says, "30 workers were
21 employed by McDonald's in O'Connell Street and Graphton
22 Street are now on strike". It talks about union
23 recognition and wages and condition matters. Then it goes
24 on - they have some criticisms about the wages and the lack
25 of breaks and late working at night; McDonald's' worldwide
26 reputation was anti-union -- yes, the third line of the big
27 paragraph says, the second line, "They refused point blank
28 to negotiate with the union representing many of their
29 workers - indeed, nearly 80 per cent of the full-time staff
30 in the Graphton Street premises". That does not ----
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, but I cannot accept that as evidence.
33 It seems to me completely inconsistent with the union's
34 arguments at the labour court because they said there that
35 it has the right and responsibility to negotiate on behalf
36 of its members, and the fact that its members represent a
37 minority of the workforce is irrelevant. I would have
38 thought that if they really could establish that 80 per
39 cent of the full-time workers were members they would have
40 made that point. But I just do not know, do I?
41
42 MR. MORRIS: The point is, the full-time workers are only a
43 minority of McDonald's workers.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I have that point and I was trying to make the
46 point for you earlier that it may be much more significant
47 proportion of full-time workers whom it might thought are
48 much more concerned about pay especially if it is their
49 only source of income, whereas a part-time I think I am
50 entitled to take judicial knowledge though the fact has got
51 some other source of income which means that although they
52 are part-time pay is important it is not quite as vital as
53 it is to the full-time workers.
54
55 MR. MORRIS: They may be transitory just passing through.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: They may have a student grant; they may have
58 parents who are subsidising their accommodation, if they
59 are youngsters; they may have some other source of
60 employment, and the part-time pay is to bolster their
