Day 140 - 22 Jun 95 - Page 53
1 A. Exactly, my Lord.
2
3 MS. STEEL: I do not know because it says: "and violates the
4 rights of" -- if you leave out "competitive" -- "and
5 violates the rights of independent business people to pay
6 fair wages" makes it sounds like they are saying it would
7 be unfair to increase the wages which is ridiculous.
8
9 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I think we have got bogged down on one
10 sentence. This case is not going to be decided on a strict
11 construction of that. Mr. Gyham thinks that it would be
12 unfair on McDonald's franchisees to impose a minimum £5
13 wage. Someone who shared PUP's views might not agree with
14 him, but there we are.
15
16 MS. STEEL: I will not go into the ----
17
18 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I would leave it.
19
20 MS. STEEL: -- the rest of that paragraph, but there are various
21 things that I could ask about it.
22
23 In the following paragraph he says: "We do recognise the
24 need for higher paying jobs in our communities". Would you
25 agree that you are one of the lower paying jobs in the
26 community?
27 A. No, I do not agree with that.
28
29 Q. You disagree with him there, do you?
30 A. No, I do not disagree with him at all.
31
32 Q. The matters that are referred to after that sentence are
33 not about working at McDonald's, are they?
34 A. I think he is talking broader than McDonald's yes.
35 I think he is talking about both. These are things that
36 McDonald's does in regular course in Philadelphia with
37 regard to its restaurants and he is talking, I believe:
38 "We need to get other employers involved in this whole
39 process as well".
40
41 Q. When he says "higher paying", what is he referring to if it
42 is not higher that McDonald's wages?
43 A. I can interpret this sentence many different ways.
44 I did not write this, so if you want me to speculate.
45
46 MR. RAMPTON: I do not really see why the witness should be
47 asked to interpret it.
48
49 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If Mr. Stein cannot read Mr. Gyham's mind it
50 does not show your interpretation and that is it so far as
51 he is concerned.
52
53 MS. STEEL: I did leave it, I was moving on to something else.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Bear it in mind if you have other questions
56 to ask on this letter or similar ones. Purely as a matter
57 of personal interest, what post does Mr. Gyham hold now?
58 Is he still with the Corporation?
59 A. Yes, he is, my Lord. He is coming into the Corporate
60 office from Philadelphia as a director which is a higher
