Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 17


     
     1        the page.
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  They are square bullets!
     4
     5   MR. RAMPTON:  Yes.  (To the witness):  Anyhow, whatever they
     6        are, Mr. Pearson, do you see the third one:  "Fear of
     7        dismissal"?
     8        A.  I do.
     9
    10   Q.   Here you are referring to witness statements filed on
    11        behalf of the Defendants in this case, are you not?
    12        A.  Yes, I am.
    13
    14   Q.   It starts:  "Fear of dismissal", and then we go on:  "Of
    15        the 27 witness statements from former employees, 14 refer
    16        to trade unionism.  Company hostility, real or perceived,
    17        features in most of these cases.  Until 1995, part-time
    18        staff have had to work for five years, and full-timers for
    19        two years, before gaining the right to claim wrongful
    20        dismissal at an industrial tribunal."
    21
    22        Were you there intending to suggest to us that somebody who
    23        had been victimised at work because of trade union activity
    24        would have to wait two or five years, as the case might be?
    25        A.  No, I was not trying to suggest that.
    26
    27   Q.   No.  It is not right, is it?  Somebody who has been
    28        penalised in any way at all for trade union activity of any
    29        kind had (still has) an immediate right of access to an
    30        industrial tribunal, does he not; is that right?
    31        A.  Access depending on dismissal.
    32
    33   Q.   I said right of access; not dismissal.
    34        A.  Part-time employees have this problem, their insecurity
    35        at work, and for that reason -----
    36
    37   Q.   Please -----
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just answer the question, first of all.  If
    40        you need to make a comment to explain your answer, please
    41        do so.  But if you answer the question first, then it is
    42        easier for me to follow.
    43        A.  Right.
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Put the question again, please, Mr. Rampton.
    46
    47   MR. RAMPTON:  The fact is, is it not, that so far as
    48        penalisation or victimisation by an employer of an employee
    49        at work for any kind of trade union activity was concerned
    50        (and still is concerned), that employee had a right of 
    51        access to an industrial tribunal for compensation? 
    52        A.  Yes, but....... 
    53
    54   Q.   Tell us the "but"?
    55        A.  The "but" is the point.  The point is, that is why
    56        I make the reference to the long service, particularly for
    57        part-time staff who form the bulk of McDonald's employees.
    58        The part-time staff have insecure employment, and the
    59        problem is exercising the rights; that has always been the
    60        problem.  If I might say, that is why I include in the same

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