Day 116 - 26 Apr 95 - Page 34
1 that had occurred to me is you are not the first employer
2 of many people and one would assume, I have to wait and
3 hear what evidence is called, that people do come to work
4 for McDonald's who are already a member of a trade union?
5 A. Indeed, my Lord. No one is asked to give up their
6 membership. It is particularly so in the support
7 departments, in the construction department, the marketing
8 department; they probably all belong to unions. In any
9 case, we would not negotiate their conditions of service
10 with those unions.
11
12 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I can see there may be a distinction there
13 between membership and actually negotiating a union of
14 which they happen to be a member.
15
16 MR. RAMPTON: Suppose a majority of the crew members in a
17 particular restaurant wanted to be, had a vote or whatever,
18 and had expressed themselves anxious to be represented in
19 negotiations by a union, what would the company's attitude
20 be?
21 A. If the majority of the staff of a restaurant had an
22 election and voted to be represented by a trade union, then
23 they would be represented by a trade union. It has never
24 occurred.
25
26 Q. I was going to ask you whether you have ever had that
27 position?
28 A. No. I have had enquiries regarding the availability of
29 a trade union membership and I have dealt with them, but
30 never in a position where there was sufficient members to
31 say they were representative of the work-force.
32
33 Q. Does the name Peter Sutcliffe ring a bell with you,
34 Mr. Nicholson?
35 A. The name rings a bell.
36
37 Q. I will come back to him or that alleged event in a moment.
38 Do you remember seeing an article in the Daily Mirror on
39 17th December 1986 -- my Lord, the references are passage
40 38 in the abstract on page 17 and volume XIII B at tab 58
41 of the pink bundles -- in which Mr. Nicholson you were
42 quoted as saying: "We will never negotiate wages and
43 conditions with a union and would discourage our staff from
44 joining"? Do you remember that article?
45 A. I remember seeing that article later. I did not
46 remember reading it in the Daily Mirror. It is not a paper
47 I read.
48
49 Q. You have seen it since then?
50 A. I have seen it.
51
52 Q. More particularly, do you remember saying those words to
53 Terry Pattison or indeed any other journalist?
54 A. Never.
55
56 Q. Have you ever said them to anybody?
57 A. No.
58
59 Q. What contact have you had with the press -- have you ever
60 said anything to any kind of organ of the media about
