Day 174 - 17 Oct 95 - Page 30


     
     1        others.
     2
     3   MR. MORRIS:  All right.  It established the right to union
     4        recognition.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Maybe it did, but I think you should put it
     7        quite carefully.
     8
     9   MR. MORRIS:  OK.
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Because, for instance, a person may not accept
    12        what is being required of it by another party because they
    13        are asking for too much.  I do not think that is a problem
    14        you have with union representation, because Mr. Mehigan's
    15        position is quite clear from the arguments as recounted by
    16        the Labour Court, which I assume I can accept as a fair
    17        summary of both sides' stand in the matter.  But I think
    18        you have to put it quite accurately.
    19
    20   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.
    21
    22   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Why not put your final conclusion?
    23
    24   MR. MORRIS:  I just want to say, bearing in mind that the main
    25        or the most prominent activist on the strike was dismissed
    26        and that Anne Holmes -----
    27
    28   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I do think Mr. Morris is making a speech.
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Put a point first, and then if you are unhappy
    31        with the answer go back.
    32
    33   MR. MORRIS:  (To the witness)  In all the circumstances that we
    34        have looked into and at the end of the strike, it is not
    35        surprising that anyone should draw the conclusion that the
    36        Company was anti-trade union?
    37
    38   MR. JUSTICE BELL: It does not matter whether he thinks it is
    39        surprising.  That is a conclusion I have to draw one way or
    40        the other.  I might not express it as anti-trade union,
    41        even if I thought that you had a good point on this
    42        aspect.
    43
    44        One of the few wise words on this topic was Mr. Pattinson,
    45        who said that the unions always described employers as
    46        being anti-union and the employers always described
    47        themselves as being non-union.
    48
    49   MR. MORRIS:  I think you said that the wrong way round, but
    50        I know what you mean. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL: No.  The union describes an employer which 
    53        will not have anything to do with unions as anti-union, and
    54        the employer described himself as non-union.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  Well, the important thing is the action, is
    57        it not, really?  I think that is about it, really.
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL: What I suggest you do is just sit down for a
    60        moment and consider whether you want to ask anything more

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