Day 247 - 10 May 96 - Page 26
1 some restaurants, where our licensees may take another
2 tack. I do not know their individual policies, what they
3 may or may not do in their own businesses, but certainly,
4 we follow the market.
5
6 MS. STEEL: So it is basically correct to say that you keep
7 wages as low as possible?
8 A. No. I said we follow the market.
9
10 MR. MORRIS: And what Mr. Copeland said that we read out when he
11 pointed out the protection of the Wage Council in the
12 United Kingdom, that there is no equivalent legislation
13 protecting the minimum wage of employees in the other
14 countries that he referred to. He said:
15
16 "The only protection is the negotiated tariffs set by the
17 Employees Association and the union coalition by
18 negotiation and bargaining."
19
20 The reality in the UK is there is now no Wage Council
21 protection and there is no union coalition negotiating with
22 catering employers, so there is no protection at all. That
23 is the reality now; is it not?
24 A. I do not accept that.
25
26 Q. For minimum wages?
27 A. I do not accept that. It totally ignores that a
28 business has to survive on the High Street. It is in
29 competition with other businesses for staff. If it does
30 not pay a competitive wage, it does not stay there. If it
31 overpays, sooner or later it goes broke, and there is no
32 business to employee anyone in the first place. So we have
33 a kind of a catch 22: Do you want a business or do you
34 want no business? Do you want a profitable one or a
35 bankrupt one? You therefore follow the market place. It is
36 just sense.
37
38 Q. I want to go back to a couple more questions on pay.
39
40 MS. STEEL: Your profits are not slim though, are they?
41 A. Who are you speaking of?
42
43 Q. McDonald's.
44 A. The global Corporation?
45
46 Q. The UK Corporation, the UK company, both?
47 A. I think we make a fair profit for what we have
48 invested, albeit we live in a world where property
49 expenses, rents, are very high. They get reviewed every
50 few years, and very quickly if a business does not keep its
51 profit growing it will be unprofitable because operating
52 costs get away from it. So we make a fair return on our
53 investment, yes. My shareholders, the Corporation
54 shareholders seem to think so.
55
56 Q. In the UK in 1993 you made £75.25m profit; is that right?
57 A. I do not know the number, but I would be surprised if
58 our after-tax profit was that. You would have to show me
59 the accounts.
60
