Day 173 - 16 Oct 95 - Page 61
1 A. No, I do not recall taking on extra people.
2
3 Q. None at all, or you just do not remember?
4 A. I do not remember. I mean, it is a long time ago.
5
6 Q. So, if you did not take on extra staff, that would have
7 meant that the existing staff would have had to work more
8 hours; would that be fair to say?
9 A. Not necessarily, no, because business dropped off
10 considerably when there was a picket on the premises, so
11 there was less business.
12
13 Q. But over the six months of the strike, I wondered about
14 this business -- in your affidavit, you said 150 workers,
15 and then in your statement you said 202 -- whether or not
16 that might be accounted for by extra people being taken on
17 while the dispute was in progress, but you had to keep the
18 others on your books?
19 A. Sorry, let me see if I understand that correctly. Are
20 you saying that the people I had to keep on my books were
21 the people on strike?
22
23 Q. The strikers you had to keep on your books?
24 A. Yes. They were still employees of the Company, even
25 though they were on strike.
26
27 Q. In the meantime, you would have to -- whether or not
28 you -----
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let me put it. What is being suggested is
31 that you have in excess of 150 in your affidavit ---
32 A. Yes.
33
34 Q. -- that that may have been the position when you saw the
35 affidavit, but you took on more crew to cope with the fact
36 that some were on strike, and that meant that you went up
37 as high as 202 on the payroll, or something like 200. That
38 is the suggestion which is being put to you?
39 A. Yes, my Lord. That would be correct, because the
40 strike went on from March right through till September; and
41 the summer months are busier. So I do not recollect
42 exactly when we took people on or how many we took on, but
43 in all probability -----
44
45 Q. You took on more during the summer?
46 A. We would have taken some more people on.
47
48 Q. So you might have got up to 200 at the most; is that what
49 you are saying?
50 A. Yes, that is what I am saying.
51
52 MS. STEEL: I just wanted to ask a couple of things about your
53 statement which I should have asked previously. Have you
54 got your statement there ?
55 A. Yes.
56
57 Q. Page 126. I just wanted to clarify something. In
58 paragraph 8, you said: "After several unsuccessful
59 telephone calls to Mr. Burke, I replied by letter to him
60 asking for further details regarding who their members what
