Day 138 - 20 Jun 95 - Page 68
1
2 Q. That is not allowed; is that right?
3 A. Generally speaking, it is not allowed, yes.
4
5 Q. Are you allowed on a secondary boycott or, as we call it, a
6 secondary picket, simply to convey information under
7 American law? In other words, am I allowed to stand in the
8 street outside a McDonald's restaurant as part of a
9 secondary picket and just give information to members of
10 the public?
11 A. You are talking about free speech?
12
13 Q. I am talking about free speech?
14 A. Yes, in general you can do that, you can hand out
15 leaflets and if you are not blocking the entrances and
16 exits, you are allowed to hand out leaflets.
17
18 Q. So if you are not interfering directly with the conduct of
19 the business, you can hand out information?
20 A. That is correct.
21
22 Q. Does the NLRB concern itself with the question whether the
23 information that is being handed out is accurate or not?
24 A. I tried to but they claimed that under their precedence
25 they would not look behind the leaflet and determine the
26 truthfulness of what was being said.
27
28 Q. So in consequence of that, was the NLRB unwilling to
29 intervene in the matter?
30 A. That is correct. Would you like me to go on from
31 there?
32
33 Q. I would like you to tell us what happened next?
34 A. OK. At that point in time we met with the officials of
35 Tyson and told them that we would have to cease doing
36 business with them because it did not appear that there was
37 a way of stopping this in the short run. We knew under
38 American law that damages might ultimately prevail but that
39 could destroy, by the time that happens, our good name and
40 reputation and that we were going to cease doing business
41 with Tysons unless Tysons could solve the matter.
42
43 Q. What did you expect that Tysons might be able to do?
44 A. I was hoping that there might be some way at the
45 bargaining table the two might agree.
46
47 Q. I see, resolve it by agreement?
48 A. Yes.
49
50 Q. Were they able to do that?
51 A. No, they were not.
52
53 Q. Did you cease doing business with Tysons at any stage?
54 A. At some point, I believe for two or three days further
55 down the road, we did but there are some facts that lead up
56 to that. The reason for it was we had excess supply at one
57 point because we did not think we were going to have
58 continued supply, so down the road we did have to cease for
59 two or three days deliveries but a lot happened in the
60 meantime.
