Day 302 - 18 Nov 96 - Page 18
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2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: We will pause there. Five minutes.
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4 (Short Adjournment)
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6 MR. MORRIS: I have not got a great deal more of Mr. Beavers to
7 do. He explained on day 125, page 20, line 45 that the
8 company wanted "people with a high energy level, the pace
9 at McDonald's is fast", and that competition between
10 employees to work speedily created "a service
11 perspective". That is day 124, page 29, line 43, I think.
12 He stated that the hustle policy of fast working emanated
13 from the US - it is not a direct quote - and applied to
14 their workers all over the world. That is day 125,
15 page 26, line 42. And I will just check that a minute.
16 (Pause)
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18 He was not aware - on that same day, same page reference -
19 about the Health and Safety Executive in the UK condemning
20 that policy, because of its detriment to employee safety.
21 Their report had concluded that hustle "provides a good
22 illustration of the culture in the company". That is an
23 interesting word when it comes to McDonald's, the word
24 "culture". Its application had resulted in a conflict
25 between operational requirements and safety where the need
26 to get the product to the customer and to maximize sales in
27 competition with other stores, presumably competitors, had
28 taken precedence. This was brought up in the following
29 pages.
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31 The point being here, this is an example of how we have a
32 systemic problem. We have a policy starting in America,
33 which is part of the culture of the company and, with
34 McDonald's, culture is just as important as official
35 provisions. And it is a worldwide practice and if the
36 company was responsible, once it had been criticised by the
37 Health and Safety Executive, which there can be no more
38 authoritative body in the UK, then it would have publicised
39 that worldwide to ensure, in order to protect staff safety,
40 that the hustle policy was abandoned.
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42 But as we have heard in other examples, it is one thing for
43 McDonald's to spread something worldwide when it benefits
44 them, but when something goes against them, whether it is
45 an advert that has been criticised or this HSE report or
46 other matters that we have heard from time to time in the
47 evidence, that seems to be kept secret in that country so
48 they carry on doing what has been stated in some countries
49 to be unacceptable. So for McDonald's, globalisation is
50 only globalisation of their business practices and they do
51 not want globalisation of criticism.
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53 He admitted on day 125, page 19, lines 4 to 22, that
54 consistent and important reasons given by McDonald's
55 workers for quitting their jobs included, as revealed in
56 the company's operations manual, understaffing, poor
57 treatment, which involved lack of recognition, poor people
58 practices, dissatisfaction with pay, low and/or infrequent
59 raises, also no job enjoyment or satisfaction, and poor
60 working conditions involving faulty and missing equipment,
