Day 184 - 06 Nov 95 - Page 54
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2 MR. RAMPTON: In the bundle, it is the seventh statement.
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4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, either place. I think that the whole
5 letter must be in 14, because it does run to a second
6 page. Deal with Jodie Morris, and then we will have the
7 break.
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9 MR. MORRIS: Yes. The third paragraph says: "When approached
10 I was promised things I knew" -- and I emphasise "knew"
11 -- "McDonald's would be unable to provide, for example
12 pensions for old staff and health benefits. This is fine,
13 but the turnover rate is so high that to promise these
14 things is absolutely ridiculous."
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16 Do you know any reason why she would know that those things
17 are unachievable at McDonald's; for example, pensions and
18 health benefits?
19 A. No.
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21 Q. Does it not seem to you that a lot of these intervenors had
22 been manipulated, lied to, pressurised, misinformed and
23 generally organised into an anti-union, union-busting
24 force, by people who did not want a union at McDonald's?
25 A. I think they were lied and harassed and badgered, and
26 everything you have just said, by Sarah; not by myself or
27 Michelle or Chris Broom. We never put any pressure on them
28 to sign the petition. We never pressured them into writing
29 a letter; it was by their own will. As for lying to them,
30 we told them, you know, everything would have to be
31 negotiated. We mentioned, you know -- and, to them, losing
32 what they had, they were happy with what they had,
33 obviously, because they did not want to lose this half
34 price food. They are just 15, 16, 17, 18-year-olds, as you
35 say, and they were happy with what they had.
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37 I am sure they, you know, after university and everything,
38 they are going to look to a job with maybe all these things
39 like what McDonald's has, and maybe more. Maybe they will
40 look for a job with a union that can provide those things.
41 But as for this, we never did anything to them. We never
42 lied to them; we never misinformed them. We just told them
43 what we knew.
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45 I mean, we had books from the Labour Board that they were,
46 you know, "If you want to look through them, go ahead",
47 type thing; and they never -- they did not want to, because
48 what Sarah did was so bad to them that they did not -- they
49 were not -- they did not think of us as liars. We never
50 stabbed them in the back. We never did any of the things
51 Sarah did.
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53 Q. What steps did Chris Broom take to stop the misinformation
54 and rumours that were going around of people that wanted to
55 pull out from a union?
56 A. He had a list of all the pros and all the cons of a
57 union, and he had -- he had asked his dad, "What are the
58 pros of a union, what are the cons of a union"; and,
59 I mean, from what I know of him, he went and showed people
60 this list and he was talking to people. But I, myself,
