Day 119 - 02 May 95 - Page 43
1 in his region, but that is only a guide for him.
2
3 MR. MORRIS: Do you know how many wages inspectors there are in
4 this country?
5 A. I have no idea, I am sorry.
6
7 Q. But it was your job, as Head of Personnel, to supervise the
8 company and to ensure that minimum wage guidelines were
9 adhered to; is that correct?
10 A. No.
11
12 Q. You said that in your evidence-in-chief.
13 A. No, I would have a responsibility for it, but there are
14 ever so many other people - payroll, Operations branch, the
15 Restaurant Manager. They all had a responsibility for
16 ensuring that the regulations regarding pay were adhered
17 to.
18
19 Q. You said that as Head of Personnel your responsibility was
20 to recommend to Operations means of improving working
21 conditions in stores and staff departments, wages, to keep
22 an eye on the minimum wage, Wage Council, and what the rest
23 of the industry was doing, and hours. You were not
24 responsible for hours worked in terms of over 39 hours.
25 You dealt with disciplinary matter -- you were the top
26 person in that hierarchy -- and trade unions. So in terms
27 of -----
28
29 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Where did you get the trade unions from?
30
31 MR. MORRIS: He said that was his responsibility, to deal with
32 anything like that if it came up as an issue. That is what
33 Mr. Rampton asked him.
34
35 THE WITNESS: No, I do not think I did.
36
37 MR. RAMPTON: I really wonder why we pay for Mr. Morris to have
38 a transcript. If we could have the page and line number.
39
40 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He has probably got a note, and sometimes
41 one's note does not actually reflect what was one was
42 saying or intending to say. You obviously dealt with the
43 question of trade unions -- if I can put that in inverted
44 commas -- from time to time, because Mr. Pearson spoke to
45 you, and you went to three stores when there was talk of
46 trade union representation?
47 A. Yes.
48
49 Q. I had not understood you, but it may be my poor
50 recollection, that you were the McDonald's person for trade
51 unions, but was that so or not?
52 A. I mean the trade unions never really entered into it.
53 The only time I have ever had anything to do with trade
54 unions, the one enquiry I got from -----
55
56 Q. Mr. Pearson?
57 A. The gentleman who wanted to distribute leaflets, an
58 enquiry from radio four and on three occasions I visited
59 stores as a request from the manager.
60
