Day 143 - 27 Jun 95 - Page 46
1 wanted a part-time job that McDonald's was the employer of
2 first choice, which I found to be very interesting.
3
4 Q. Have you been to the Netherlands?
5 A. Yes, I have.
6
7 Q. When did you visit the Netherlands?
8 A. I would say the first time would have been, oh, half a
9 dozen years ago. Boy! You have to give or take at least a
10 couple of years on each end.
11
12 Q. Do you know what the present situation in the Netherlands
13 is between McDonald's and the unions?
14 A. Only from general conversations with the Manager and
15 people there that -----
16
17 Q. Is there agreement, that is what I am saying, is there an
18 agreement -----
19
20 MR. RAMPTON: Let him finish his answer.
21 A. My knowledge is there is no outstanding issues, there
22 are no problems. I am going to have make an assumption
23 that I do not know first hand, my Lord, I do not know
24 whether there is an agreement or not. I just know there
25 are no issues of any nature that has been reported to me.
26
27 MR. MORRIS: No, but are there any formal negotiations or
28 agreements?
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do you know whether there is any formal
31 relationship with a union or unions in the Netherlands?
32 A. My Lord, I know that there is constant contact between
33 the two. I would assume there is probably an agreement,
34 but I do not know that as a matter of fact because, to my
35 knowledge, there has been ongoing relations with the
36 union. They would not put a bulletin board or an outdoor
37 advertising board of that nature if there was any dispute,
38 but I have never seen a document, a formal agreement. I do
39 not recall specifically getting into a formal agreement.
40 I just know there has been constant dialogue and discussion
41 between them, and no issues that I was informed of -- or
42 the impression I had was that there was a very good
43 relationship.
44
45 MR. MORRIS: If we go to document 146, just regarding Denmark
46 and what we talked about, was it yesterday or this morning,
47 about long running disputes over negotiations and union
48 recognition which resulted in an agreement with the union;
49 you remember the situation in Denmark, yes?
50 A. I know of the situation in Denmark. I do have some
51 knowledge of that.
52
53 Q. Right. The Hotel and Restaurant Forbund, if I can just
54 summarise it that way, that is the union that is
55 recognised, is it, by McDonald's, HRF?
56 A. I am not very good with names of unions, especially
57 when they are in foreign languages. I am not trying to be
58 difficult at all, but it may very well be -- I assume it is
59 -- but I do not know the name.
60
