Day 138 - 20 Jun 95 - Page 13


     
     1        Would you like to comment on that little passage about
     2        dekilling of work and the business of grilling hamburgers
     3        and, as they thought fit to mention, cleaning toilets and
     4        so on?
     5        A.  I do not know how specific or general you really want
     6        me to get, but that is, I call it rubbish.  We spend
     7        literally millions and millions of dollars on training
     8        programmes, development programmes.  We have been
     9        acknowledged by the Government for the training and the
    10        skills development that we do with our people.  I can tell
    11        you, having worked first hand in a restaurant, that it
    12        takes a lot of learning and teaching and understanding.
    13
    14   Q.   If I may impolitely interrupt you, you have put a thought
    15        into my head:  Roughly how long do you think it takes for
    16        the new crew member to become -- it depends, of course, on
    17        his ability -- averagely skilled at what the various tasks
    18        are that he has to do within the restaurant?  How long
    19        would you say before you get the employee that you want?
    20        A.  Well, we start them off on a specific station, if you
    21        will, and we would like them to master that station.  We
    22        break down our restaurants by stations.  We would like them
    23        to at least be of average proficiency before we move them
    24        on to the next station.
    25
    26        We do have things called station observation check lists.
    27        When someone first starts, you expect them not to be
    28        proficient.  They often at times work with what we call a
    29        body who will correct them and help them with their work.
    30        As they gain more experience, they would become more
    31        proficient, and then we would try -- we would want to move
    32        them -- we call it job rotation -- rotate them around the
    33        store so that they can learn all aspects of the operation
    34        and, hopefully, have a desire to move up into those next
    35        levels in the time that we talked about.
    36
    37   Q.   My original question was, understanding all of that,
    38        roughly speaking, how long do you think that whole process
    39        takes before you have your complete crew member?
    40        A.  I think that a person in two years could become
    41        proficient in all of that, but I will also tell you that
    42        even though I work in a store quite a bit, I get better and
    43        better over time and learn better ways of serving our
    44        customers.  It is, in my estimation, a never ending
    45        process.
    46
    47   Q.   The next sentence reads:  "So there is no need to employ
    48        chefs or qualified staff, just anybody prepared to work for
    49        low wages".  We dealt with that yesterday, Mr. Stein. Then
    50        it says, "As there is no legally enforced minimum wage in 
    51        Britain".  As it happens, Mr. Stein, that is untrue, so far 
    52        as Britain is concerned at this time and we know it is 
    53        untrue in America.  In your time at McDonald's, has there
    54        always been a Federal minimum wage?
    55        A.  Yes, there has.
    56
    57   Q.   "As there is no legal enforced minimum wage in Britain,
    58        McDonald's can pay what they like, helping to depress wage
    59        levels in the catering trade still further."   Mr. Stein,
    60        are you conscious that in any sense the level of wages

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