Day 180 - 31 Oct 95 - Page 12
1 unit with, say, 80 full- and part-time staff, I would
2 expect to see a basic union recognition agreement with two
3 or three elected, trained shop stewards covering the range
4 of shifts. By virtue of union recognition, the restaurants
5 would have a health and safety at work committee with
6 trained safety representatives accredited under the Health
7 and Safety at Work Act, meeting regularly with management,
8 undertaking regular, joint safety inspections. A
9 jointly-agreed grievance and disciplinary procedure would
10 involve independent trained union representatives available
11 to represent staff in a fair and competent manner, with
12 employee access to a full-time union official and other
13 union legal resources. There might also be local
14 substantive negotiations on pay and conditions and
15 company-wide bargaining, depending on the overall union
16 density within the operation. Awareness of statutory
17 employment rights, including health and safety, wages
18 councils and the employment of young persons, form a part
19 of union shop steward training courses.
20
21 "Health and safety at work.
22 16. I have read the 1992 Health and Safety Executive
23 Report 'The Management of Occupational Health and Safety in
24 McDonald's Restaurants Limited'. I note that it states
25 there were no restaurant safety representatives or safety
26 committees in the company (paragraph 2.12). The report
27 describes the application of the 'hustle' policy as a good
28 illustration of the culture of the company which 'had
29 resulted in the conflict between operational requirements
30 and safety where the need to get the product to the
31 customer and to maximise sales had taken precedence'.
32
33 "17. The report observes that, for many staff, hustle
34 meant having to 'run or slide' (paragraph 2.40). The
35 system was described as 'putting the service of customers
36 before the safety of employees' in many restaurants.
37 I find the HSE report a worrying assessment of company
38 priorities. Some practices are inherently unsafe, yet
39 persist, from my own observations both as a customer and
40 during site visits. In work areas with hot surfaces, hot
41 liquids, electrical machinery and sometimes wet floors,
42 'hustle' is inherently a high risk culture."
43
44 That is all correct so far, is it?
45 A. It is.
46
47 Q. Next heading:
48
49 "Controlling the cost of labour.
50 18. The food control schedules I saw during my two site
51 visits came to mind, when I read the detailed guide to
52 controlling labour costs (Document headed Profit Unit
53 Activity 3), which begins with the statement: 'As you know,
54 labour costs are controllable in the same way food costs
55 are.'
56
57 "19. Constantly-monitored food and labour costs control
58 systems form a disciplined, integrated approach to
59 cost-management. Both are monitored on an hour-by-hour
60 basis, as statements by witnesses Gibney, Alimi and
