Day 085 - 08 Feb 95 - Page 18


     
     1        conflict with each other?  For example, is it not an
     2        obvious statement that the pressure to increase sales can
     3        be in conflict with the pressure to improve safety
     4        procedures?  Is that not a kind of standard management
     5        approach, that the company has to be aware of that?
     6        A.  The overall riding -- the overriding approach is the
     7        aim of the restaurant is to increase customer satisfaction
     8        rather than increasing sales.  By implication that is what
     9        would happen.  To do that you would have to serve customers
    10        quickly and safely.  Employees have to act safely, and to
    11        be contented in their work and happy in their work to be
    12        able to do that.  The whole ethos of McDonald's would
    13        suggest that is not the case or the way I understand it it
    14        is not the case.
    15
    16   Q.   But is it not fair to recognise that there are aspects of
    17        your business that are not necessarily all automatically
    18        working in harmony?  I will give you an example.  Would it
    19        be fair to recognise that if you are committed, say, to the
    20        welfare of your employees -- that is a fact, yes, you are
    21        committed to the welfare of your employees?
    22        A.  Yes.
    23
    24   Q.   But you are also committed to keeping wage costs down,
    25        labour costs down, as a percentage of sales per store?
    26        That is correct as well, is it not?
    27        A.  No.  The latter statement is not a goal or an objective
    28        or a desire of the company.
    29
    30   Q.   It is true, though, is it not, that each store is set a
    31        labour percentage guideline for a year of what the labour
    32        costs are expected not to go above, I think it is between
    33        16 and 18 per cent?  I can refer to documents, if you
    34        like.
    35        A.  No, I think you are talking about, you know, do we
    36        budget?  We budget like any business on an annual basis,
    37        and the labour line is one line.  It has to be controlled
    38        like every other line.  It is part of doing business.
    39
    40   Q.   But do you recognise that that may be an area where what
    41        the workers want in terms of wages would be in conflict
    42        with what the management want to pay?  Do you recognise
    43        there are conflicting -- I cannot think of the word
    44        now -----
    45
    46   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Shall we stick to safety for the moment?
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You can go on to the other, by all means, but 
    51        it started with safety.  (To the witness):  What is being 
    52        suggested to you is that McDonald's is a quick service 
    53        restaurant with the emphasis on the "quick", and the
    54        quicker you go, the less safe it is?
    55        A.  Sorry, that was a question?
    56
    57   Q.   Yes, it is a question.  It is a question in the sense that
    58        you are invited to comment on that as a proposition.
    59        A.  Right.  The quicker that you go, the less safe the
    60        environment would be?  I think you would have more

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