Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 12
1 those restaurants, talking to colleagues in the industry,
2 in the wider industry.
3
4 Sometimes -- in fact, I remember one occasion we turned up
5 with catering uniforms on; people would turn up with their
6 chef's gear on, and so forth. They would be talking to
7 each other. The response was generally sympathetic and
8 positive because, in the industry, there is a currency
9 amongst the workforce about low pay, a currency in the
10 workforce about a desire to improve things.
11
12 Q. What I am just trying to say is, were the McDonald's
13 workers -- was the response from them any better or worse
14 in terms of their interest in joining unions than other
15 catering non-unionised companies?
16 A. Par for the course: no better, no worse, no more
17 enthusiastic, no less enthusiastic than many other
18 workplaces; and I would say why is because of the
19 generality of concern in the industry about pay and
20 conditions.
21
22 I must say, throughout the Inner London stretch, going from
23 Euston through to Bayswater and down to Kensington and
24 dipping down into Central London, Trafalgar Square, in
25 those stretches of hotels and restaurants there was always
26 a tremendous, massive job to be done in terms of basic
27 employment rights, advice; and McDonald's was one of many
28 companies, many companies, that we did -- and still do; the
29 trade union still does approach; employees in those
30 companies are approached, and that will always be the case,
31 as long as conditions are such as they are. So, the
32 response was, you know, par for the course.
33
34 Q. Par for the course, right, which you described as
35 "sympathetic"?
36 A. Sympathetic.
37
38 Q. And positive?
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think you have pursued that as far as you
41 can, Mr. Morris.
42
43 MR. MORRIS: OK.
44 A. But the condition I put on that response is simply
45 this, that people do not linger under the eye of
46 management; and so there was a problem about sustaining
47 contact, and you would often arrange to meet at another
48 time -- and this did happen -- in my office, or wherever,
49 to explain matters more fully, if people were interested.
50
51 MR. MORRIS: Just a couple of final questions. We have heard
52 something about drink breaks. Apart from the breaks which
53 McDonald's workers are meant to have -- lunch breaks or
54 whatever, meal breaks -- the need for a drinks break, they
55 have to ask permission, and they may get one or two minutes
56 standing in a corner, or something. In the catering
57 industry, working in a kitchen environment, can you just
58 say what your opinion is about the need for drinks breaks?
59 A. Well, in short, this is one of those aspects of the
60 employment contract which is often unwritten. Custom and
