Day 125 - 12 May 95 - Page 22
1 Q. Is it right that you reserve the right to change any term
2 or condition of the employment of any employee without
3 prior consultation or agreement?
4 A. In general that is the case. Although, I would say,
5 that there are very rarely any major changes in the
6 practices that are outlined either in the manual or the
7 Crew Handbook, any major changes. Very rarely are any
8 changes made, and, if they are, I would say that there is
9 some, much discussion about those changes at various levels
10 of management, as well as after having some input from a
11 selection of crew people, selected from people that are
12 actually being impacted by that change.
13
14 Q. But you reserve the right to not consult the employees and
15 to change the conditions as you want?
16 A. We reserve that right -- it is rarely invoked.
17
18 Q. So the employees do not have any guaranteed conditions on
19 their part that could not be revoked?
20 A. I would say that very few employees have guaranteed
21 employment. Again -----
22
23 Q. Conditions, not just employment?
24 A. Pardon?
25
26 Q. Conditions, not just employment -- you said guaranteed
27 employment?
28 A. I do not know anyone that has guaranteed employment.
29
30 Q. Or conditions?
31
32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If they do not have guaranteed employment,
33 they do not have guaranteed conditions because you can
34 dismiss them or bring their employment to an end. Then,
35 should they want to come back, they would have to come back
36 under such new conditions of employment as prevailed.
37 A. True. Yes.
38
39 MS. STEEL: So, basically, the employees have no rights at all?
40 A. I think employees have a lot of rights. As I have
41 indicated, a large percentage of our management people,
42 people that work directly with our crew people, come from
43 the crew. They were former crew people so they are
44 sympathetic, empathic, to operating conditions in the
45 restaurant. They understand the crew and in many cases the
46 swing managers, that is the level of management between
47 salaried management and crew people, they are, in fact, you
48 know crew people. There is a great deal of dialogue that
49 continually goes on in a restaurant, so that I think it is
50 unfair to say that decisions are made without discussion or
51 input from the crew.
52
53 Q. But they do not have any right to that discussion or input;
54 they do not have any right to that? If the store
55 management wanted, or if the Corporation wanted, you could
56 just say: "We are not interested in what you have to say;
57 you will work under these conditions which are different to
58 whatever" -----
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If I may say so, I think you have established
