Day 173 - 16 Oct 95 - Page 42
1
2 The letter that is referred to in that paragraph about "On
3 15th February I received a letter from the ITGWU", that
4 would be the same letter that we were just referring to a
5 moment ago; yes?
6 A. Yes, it would be.
7
8 Q. The one that you said there was no impetus from staff to
9 deem such negotiations necessary?
10 A. There was no one named in that letter.
11
12 Q. "He also indicated that a previous employee Owen O'Brien who
13 had worked as a maintenance man had in fact a union card,
14 but he resigned on approximately 9th February 1979 because
15 of an infringement of our policies. He accepted free food
16 from another employee at the Grafton Street store and was
17 observed by a manager. After this situation came to light,
18 he handed in his resignation to Martin Coughlin the
19 following day which was 9th February 1979."
20
21 How did Mr. Coughlin find out that he was a member of the
22 union?
23 A. I honestly do not know.
24
25 Q. He did not tell you that, or you do not remember?
26 A. Well, I mean, it is a long time ago, so these notes
27 were written at the time. So I cannot recall, OK, whether
28 Mr. -----
29
30 Q. Sorry?
31 A. Sorry. I cannot recall whether Mr. Coughlin told me --
32 sorry, what was your question again, may I ask?
33
34 Q. The previous one?
35 A. Sorry, you asked me a question about Martin Coughlin
36 and Owen O'Brien. I am sorry.
37
38 Q. How Martin Coughlin knew that Owen O'Brien had a union
39 card?
40 A. I do not know.
41
42 Q. Why should you care whether or not Owen O'Brien had a union
43 card?
44 A. Other than if he had one and Martin Coughlin told me,
45 then that is what I put down here on the minutes.
46
47 Q. But you consider it a significant matter worthy of being
48 put down in this memorandum?
49 A. I guess I did.
50
51 Q. It then goes on to say: "A crew meeting had been scheduled
52 for 18th February and this took place." How often did crew
53 meetings take place at this time?
54 A. Probably, I would say, every couple of months.
55
56 Q. Were they -- we have heard something about crew meetings
57 around the world, or certainly in the UK and USA, that
58 generally crew meetings are held some time after a rap
59 session to kind of feed back on what came up at the rap
60 session. Was that the position in the Irish stores as
