Day 184 - 06 Nov 95 - Page 40
1
2 Q. And to find out what union means, the only way you would be
3 able to do that would be by talking to people?
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is not necessarily what "union" means.
6 You may sign something and not know what obligation, if
7 any, you have entered into. It does not necessarily --
8 I mean, if you want to find out what it means, ask about
9 it, but I have not automatically interpreted it as meaning
10 what a union or what the union meant.
11
12 MR. MORRIS: Right. Is that what you mean, though, that you did
13 not quite know what unions were about?
14 A. No, I did not.
15
16 Q. Right. You said in your paragraph 15 that you had learned
17 during the course of that week a number of other crew
18 members had also signed union cards, either because they
19 had been badgered or because they had been promised job
20 security and enhanced benefits, or both.
21
22 The kind of things we were talking about before, the
23 benefits, did people feel -- your position is, as
24 I understand it, is it not, that people felt misinformed
25 about those kind of benefits?
26 A. Yes.
27
28 Q. Those kind of things such as pensions and dental -----
29 A. I think that they were misinformed about the whole
30 thing.
31
32 Q. Right. But the things about pensions, dental payments,
33 wage increases, and the other -- whatever we mentioned
34 before -- they are perfectly normal in some jobs, are they
35 not?
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes, they may be. But, as I understand it,
38 that is not the point that the witness is making. Perhaps
39 you had better check. These things may be taken for
40 granted in one job but not the next. What she was saying
41 was, she was led to believe that if they joined a union
42 they would automatically get various benefits like
43 increased pay and protection from sacking; and then she
44 found that these things were to be negotiated, or it was
45 hoped that they would be negotiated. But when she was told
46 about them there was no mention of negotiation; it was just
47 that these would follow. (To the witness): Am I wrong
48 about that or right about that?
49 A. You are right about that.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is what this witness is telling me.
52 Hence, that is why she feels she was misinformed.
53
54 MR. MORRIS: Yes -- bearing in mind that our witness is likely
55 to say they were things to be negotiated.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I will hear that evidence in due course, but
58 we have Miss Iurilla giving evidence at the moment.
59
60 MR. MORRIS: Right. (To the witness): If, in your eyes, you
