Day 140 - 22 Jun 95 - Page 59


     
     1   MR. MORRIS:  I have, yes.
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What does it have on it, what is it?
     4
     5   MR. MORRIS:  It is the Philadelphia Tribune.  It says: "Rethink
     6        your McDonald's position".  It is near the back.  It is
     7        about the fourth from the back, June 12th, 1990.
     8
     9   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Have you got it?
    10        A.  No, I do not.
    11
    12   Q.   It is 6 sheets from the back of 54?
    13        A.  Yes, I have it.
    14
    15   MR. MORRIS:  Then at the bottom paragraph in the first column it
    16        says: "The Tribune points out that some of the franchises
    17        are owned by African Americans" -- this is in the City of
    18        Philadelphia -- "It is it true that under 25 per cent of
    19        McDonald's Philadelphia restaurants are owned by African
    20        Americans".  Is that true?
    21        A.  I do not believe that that is true at all.  I would
    22        have to say that the vast majority of our operators in the
    23        City of Philadelphia are black.
    24
    25   Q.   At this time?
    26        A.  Yes, at that time.  I was there, sir.
    27
    28   Q.   "But the Tribune editors effectively point out that 75 per
    29        cent of McDonald's inner city employees are African
    30        American".  That is true, is it?
    31        A.  I cannot verify that.
    32
    33   Q.   But a majority anyway?
    34        A.  I cannot verify that at all either.  The City of
    35        Philadelphia is a large city; it has many different ethnic
    36        and interracial groups in that city including a large white
    37        population.  I cannot verify that.
    38
    39   Q.   In the next paragraph it says: "The numbers of people
    40        working full-time and still earning less than the poverty
    41        levels" -- this is in general in America -- "has increased
    42        by 43 per cent between 1979 and 1987 in this country".  Do
    43        you know what the poverty level -- is there some official
    44        poverty standard, or various poverty level standards with
    45        which wages can be compared with?
    46        A.  I do not have knowledge of that area. I am not aware of
    47        it.
    48
    49   Q.   Do you have similar things as there are in this country?
    50        I think the European institutions have set a decency 
    51        threshold, and I cannot remember which institutions in 
    52        England set poverty standards.  Does no one do that in 
    53        America?
    54        A.  There may be, but I am not aware of it.
    55
    56   Q.   So, you do not have any standards against which you can
    57        judge whether McDonald's crew member's wages could be said
    58        to be low or high?
    59        A.  We do surveys of other employers and, as I think I have
    60        mentioned before, we aim to pay at the top of that survey.

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