Day 116 - 26 Apr 95 - Page 38
1 Q. Be perfectly frank with us, Mr. Nicholson, do you think
2 there is any sense in which the crew members at these three
3 meetings you have told us may have felt a little
4 intimidated by your presence?
5 A. I hope not. I visited restaurants regularly.
6 I attended crew meetings and rap sessions. I would hope no
7 one was intimidated by my presence.
8
9 Q. On these occasions did you for your part notice any crackle
10 of hostility from these people?
11 A. None at all.
12
13 Q. A feeling that the employees felt they were being exploited
14 by the company?
15 A. No.
16
17 Q. Did they give on any of these occasions any reason why they
18 thought it might be appropriate for them to be represented
19 or to join a union?
20 A. No. I started the meeting by an explanation of what
21 the company's attitude was and why we preferred to deal
22 direct with them, and there was no real positive response
23 against that.
24
25 MS. STEEL: I am not sure, I do not know whether I missed it,
26 but did Mr. Nicholson give a date of the Liverpool thing?
27
28 MR. RAMPTON: No. I forget to ask. Can you remember the date?
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can you help us? If you can give the date do
31 so, but in relation to Hackney and East Ham?
32 A. I cannot remember now, my Lord.
33
34 MR. RAMPTON: I have used the dates given by the Defendants
35 because that is all I know.
36 A. I could remember those two incidents. I do remember
37 Liverpool. I do remember it was on Grand National day. It
38 was after Hackney, so I would say it was about 1988.
39
40 Q. Therefore in March?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. In perhaps 1988?
44 A. Yes.
45
46 Q. At about that time, say the Defendants -- my Lord this is
47 passage 92 -- Phil Pearson, a TGWU official (Catering), was
48 refused access to at least two stores, Warren Street and
49 Narrow Way Hackney, despite asking managers to meet staff
50 during their break." Do you remember anything about that,
51 Mr. Nicholson?
52 A. Well, I know about Warren Street, I can remember Warren
53 Street. I know nothing about the other incident.
54
55 Q. Tell us what you recall about Warren Street?
56 A. It was a telephone call on a morning, I cannot remember
57 when but it was about 9 o'clock in the morning. This chap
58 phoned me up and said he was from the Transport and General
59 Workers Union and he wanted to distribute literature to the
60 crew members at Warren Street. I said to him, "Well, you
