Day 172 - 12 Oct 95 - Page 49
1 13. There were roughly 100 employees at the store, but it
2 is hard to say with any specificity. It was a very big
3 store, supposed to be one of the busiest in Europe. The
4 majority of staff - perhaps 60% - were non-white. Of those
5 who were white, the majority were foreigners: a lot of
6 Italians, a few Spanish and so on. The non-whites were
7 Ghanaians, Nigerians, Afro-Caribbeans, Asians and Chinese.
8 The Friday evening shift was known as 'the Chinese shift'
9 since most of the staff who worked at that time were
10 Chinese.
11
12 14. Most of the people on my shift were over 18 and
13 I certainly did not know of anybody who was under 16. On
14 the evening shifts they may have been younger, but I knew
15 nothing about the other shifts and generally never met
16 people on those shifts.
17
18 15. There were budget ratios for absolutely every overhead
19 that could possibly be incurred in the store. Every single
20 expense was measured in terms of its percentage of total
21 sales, even down to items of cleaning materials. I knew
22 that staff costs were not allowed to exceed 15% of
23 turnover: I cannot remember from whom I first heard this,
24 but it was definitely someone in Management. I got on well
25 with the lower Management and could generally find out
26 anything I wanted to know from them. The Manager, Jim
27 Atkinson, used to brag about the various figures for sales
28 and overheads to the Area Manager, and I overheard such
29 conversations frequently. The budget ratios seemed to be
30 of great importance in such discussions.
31
32 16. As an example of how the extremely tight attention to
33 all expenses manifested itself, I used to work in the
34 backroom, unloading the juggernauts which delivered various
35 foods on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Two juggernauts
36 appeared on each delivery, one containing frozen goods, the
37 other one containing unfrozen. During the winter months
38 when I had to go into the yard to unloads the trucks, it
39 was often very cold. I also had to go into the walk-in
40 freezers, working there for lengthy periods in temperatures
41 of minus 20 centigrade. Despite repeated requests, the
42 Company refused to provide any clothing to make this job
43 less unpleasant. I had to wear my own jacket in order to
44 keep warm and the management refused to buy gloves.
45 Management also refused to buy rubber gloves for people
46 working in the backroom on various duties which involved
47 the use of highly abrasive chemicals and detergents.
48 Certain people developed skin rashes from using cleaning
49 liquids and regular requests were made to Management for
50 gloves, but they were always declined. People who had
51 developed such skin conditions worked on the preparation of
52 food, which I understood to be illegal and certainly most
53 unhealthy.
54
55 17. ... There did not seem to be much control. A Manager
56 from McDonald's came over from the USA once to inspect -
57 the staff were told we had to smile and be on our best
58 behaviour. We were not aware of his visit as he came in as
59 a customer, but we were told subsequently that he had been
60 satisfied with what he had seen. Representatives from the
