Day 116 - 26 Apr 95 - Page 09
1 work for almost a year prior to that.
2
3 Q. So your practical career as Head of Personnel lasted
4 roughly seven years, 1984 ----
5 A. Yes, roughly seven years.
6
7 Q. During that seven years, starting in October 1984, running
8 through to 1991, how much of the operation of McDonald's
9 restaurants did you see on the ground?
10 A. Considerable, because of the small number of staff
11 I had, I spent a considerable amount of time in restaurants
12 talking to staff.
13
14 Q. All over the country?
15 A. All over the country.
16
17 Q. I know this is a difficult question, or may be: Looking
18 back over those seven years and, indeed, adding to those
19 seven years the years that you have done as Ombudsman, I
20 want you to give us a general impression; suppose it was
21 suggested that, in effect, McDonald's is a sweat shop which
22 exploits the young and the disadvantaged for its own
23 profit, what comment do you have about that general
24 proposition?
25 A. I would reject it out of hand.
26
27 Q. Is that simply because you are a McDonald's person in a
28 senior position giving evidence here in court?
29 A. No. My experience of organisations dictate to me that
30 McDonald's is an extremely caring organisation.
31
32 Q. Roughly speaking, during the course of your time as Head of
33 Personnel, during the course of a year, would you go into a
34 restaurant?
35 A. I beg your pardon? Repeat that.
36
37 Q. Roughly how often during a course of the year would you
38 actually visit a restaurant or restaurants?
39 A. Depending upon the work I was doing, because I had more
40 than one department that I was responsible for, but if
41 I was touring the country in my role as Chief Personnel
42 Officer, I would visit perhaps three restaurants a day
43 whilst I was out in the field.
44
45 Q. How often during course of the year might you do one of
46 these tours?
47 A. Well, from 1985/6, I was responsible for three
48 departments, franchising, personnel and security, and
49 I suppose I devoted about 30 per cent of my time, 35 per
50 cent of my time, to personnel matters.
51
52 Q. Do you think that your experience in that role qualifies
53 you to give us an impression of the kind of atmosphere to
54 be found, as a generality, in a restaurant in McDonald's
55 during the late 1980s and early 1990s?
56 A. Oh, yes, it certainly does.
57
58 Q. Would you, please, tell us in a broad brush picture what,
59 in general, you find to be or found to be the atmosphere,
60 particularly I am talking amongst the crew, in a McDonald's
