Day 180 - 31 Oct 95 - Page 22
1 MR. MORRIS: Sorry, because he did not come back to you within
2 five days?
3 A. Because he was not dismissed.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He had not been dismissed.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: Sorry.
8
9 THE WITNESS: Interim relief was not an option, no dismissal,
10 legitimate fear of job loss. Ring the employer? Should
11 I ring the employer? An option likely, in my view, to be
12 unhelpful to the employee. Seek a meeting with the
13 employer, seek to protect the employee that way? We had no
14 regular established contact with McDonald's management,
15 whether at -- certainly not at that branch, nor at higher
16 management levels. So, this option, this option, was not
17 open to me either.
18
19 So, he is outraged, he is angry, he is asking for my
20 assistance, and I believe there is very little I can do.
21 I did not want him to lose his job, means of livelihood, a
22 student needing the income. We never had a reckless
23 approach to trade union development, and I do not think,
24 I do not think he liked my advice or my response, rather,
25 I do not think he liked my response.
26
27 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause there. From that, I understand
28 you went through what you have just been telling me with
29 him?
30 A. You may indeed infer that.
31
32 Q. That is even like the way you expressed it as you have
33 expressed it to me; is that what you are saying?
34 A. That is what I am saying, my Lord, because although
35 I do not claim perfect recall of the conversation, what
36 I do claim is that I know how I advised him.
37
38 Q. Yes. Very well.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: Can I ask you one question? What he put in his
41 statement, is that what he told you had happened?
42
43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, just leave it there.
44
45 MR. MORRIS: I think it is important because it is relevant to
46 your state of mind.
47
48 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No. You take it like this. If you want
49 Mr. Pearson's evidence to carry weight, you just let him
50 give his own account of that.
51
52 MR. MORRIS: I was only trying to save time.
53
54 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There are more important things than that
55 sometimes.
56
57 MR. MORRIS (To the witness): What did he tell you about his
58 experiences in the store, can you remember?
59 A. Yes, he told me that a number of people were interested
60 in joining the union, had been interested. That, I
