Day 143 - 27 Jun 95 - Page 47


     
     1   Q.   I presume you do not know much or anything about the
     2        specific working conditions for McDonald's crew employees
     3        in Denmark?
     4        A.  I know that we were paying above the orange book -- the
     5        same agreement I mentioned earlier -- I know that Burger
     6        King was paying the orange book and they were paying people
     7        less than McDonald's.  I know that Burger King was not
     8        obeying, that even though they were signatory to the orange
     9        book, they were not obeying the terms of the orange book;
    10        they were doing things less and that the union was not
    11        enforcing that orange book as it applied against Burger
    12        King until later when they did bring a law suit some years
    13        later against Burger King.  I do know that.
    14
    15   Q.   You seem to have spent quite a lot of time enquiring into
    16        Burger King then when you were in Denmark?
    17        A.  No, when I would meet with our owner/operators and
    18        I would try to get an understanding of what was happening.
    19        One of the issues that came up was the union had said to
    20        the owner/operators:  "Why do you not just sign the
    21        agreement?"  The owner/operators said, no, there were
    22        things in there such as dismissing part-timers that they
    23        could not live with.
    24
    25        They were advised by the union that they should just sign
    26        it, and as to those things that they could not live with
    27        they did not have to obey it.  The owner/operators took
    28        position, as well as I did, you do not sign something with
    29        someone saying:  "Oh, do not worry about it; we will not
    30        enforce it".  I was advised that that was the way they
    31        worked with Burger King for a number of years.  Just
    32        shortly before we signed our agreement, Burger King was
    33        sued by the union for those things that they had not lived
    34        up to over many years.
    35
    36        So, I recall those discussions because we were trying to
    37        figure out, how do we solve this issue?  How do we solve
    38        this problem?  Can we somehow get the union to modify its
    39        hard and fast stance that it would be this orange book and
    40        nothing else?  Then I was told:  "Well, there is this other
    41        alternative and that is they say they will not enforce
    42        things in the orange book" which caused me, frankly, to
    43        roll my eyeballs to the back of my head.
    44
    45   Q.   So you are all for not having -----
    46        A.  I am all for if I sign something, I live up to it.
    47        I will not sign something and then disrespect it or disobey
    48        it.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You do not have to pick that up.  No sensible 
    51        person would sign an agreement of that kind of potential 
    52        importance on the assurance of the other party that they 
    53        would not enforce part of it.
    54
    55   THE WITNESS:  My Lord, my point is -----
    56
    57   MR. MORRIS:  You were not involved with the negotiations between
    58        Burger King and the union, were you?
    59        A.  No, I was not.
    60

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