Day 134 - 13 Jun 95 - Page 41


     
     1        having guaranteed hours ---
     2        A.  No.
     3
     4   Q.   -- is there?
     5        A.  No, there is not.
     6
     7   Q.   There is nothing there, is there, related to being
     8        pressurised such as:  "I am sometimes pressurised to work
     9        at unnatural speed", or something like that, or "I am under
    10        pressure.  I am sometimes put under unfair pressure" or
    11        something like that?
    12        A.  No, there is not, but I would say here that I do not
    13        know too much about this positive/negative questioning that
    14        you referred to earlier.  But it seems to me that I have
    15        heard things referred to about referenda and the way they
    16        are worded, and it would seem to me that actually to
    17        suggest something along the lines that you described about,
    18        you know, "I am sometimes made to work at unnatural speed"
    19        would actually be going a bit too far in terms of
    20        suggesting an answer actually, in terms of putting it "an
    21        unnatural speed", that is slightly unlikely wording, I
    22        think.
    23
    24   Q.   Ms. Mead, that is exactly my point.
    25        A.  I know the point you are making.
    26
    27   Q.   It is suggested when you are asking for agreement, and it
    28        might be suggested if you ask for something that was
    29        negative?
    30        A.  No, I do not think it is to do with the positive and
    31        negative, but it is about the way that you worded it that
    32        I took issue.  I understand the point you are putting about
    33        the wording positively or negatively.  We have explored
    34        that.
    35
    36   Q.   But in terms of the content of the actual concerns that you
    37        are defining staff, you are interested in what the staff's
    38        actual opinion is, there is nothing saying such as, for
    39        example in a positive way:  "I do not ever have to work in
    40        an unsafe environment", that would be a helpful question,
    41        would it not?
    42        A.  I would agree that something else on safety, something
    43        on safety, would be helpful, yes.  In fact, I think we have
    44        incorporated that or plan to for the next time and in the
    45        management one that we are about to do.
    46
    47   Q.   Especially in the light of the Company's claims that it has
    48        redefined what "hustle" means, although hustle still exists
    49        as a culture that is encouraged in the Company, you would
    50        have thought that you would want to monitor whether 
    51        "hustle" was still being used in many cases to get people 
    52        to work at unsafe speeds, or running or sliding or anything 
    53        like that?  You would be concerned to know what the actual
    54        staff felt about that, would you not?
    55        A.  I have already said that I would agree that something
    56        on safety would be relevant, but I think there is something
    57        to bear in mind when looking at this is as well that you
    58        could go on and ask thousands of questions actually.  That
    59        is one of the things we have found before, that sometimes
    60        if you make a survey too long, it can be off-putting to

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