Day 133 - 12 Jun 95 - Page 48


     
     1        A.  Yes, but there are also things like promotion which may
     2        occur during that time as well.  I would simply add that.
     3
     4   Q.   Of course, during that time the rates for the rest of
     5        industry would have gone up as well?
     6        A.  They may have done, but also during that time it is
     7        quite likely that our rates would have been reviewed again
     8        as well.
     9
    10   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can I just ask, Ms. Steel, do you actually
    11        have a witness or evidence you are going to call as to what
    12        rates were?  I know you have the point about catering
    13        generally being low, but what the rates were in catering,
    14        for instance, in a year you might take?  Because, if you
    15        have not, you might think about -- the New Earnings Surveys
    16        are not very expensive.  You may not be able to get a back
    17        one now, but if I can just give you an example?
    18
    19        If you got the New Earnings Survey which was based on
    20        research done by the Department of Employment in the year
    21        up to April 1990, if they were done to Aprils -- I think
    22        they were but I just cannot really remember -- that year
    23        would cover, essentially, the dates when you are alleged to
    24        have published this leaflet, or participated in the
    25        publication of this leaflet.
    26
    27        The New Earnings Surveys are mines of information.  You
    28        have to get the ones which are most appropriate, it will
    29        probably be A and then whichever one catering appears in.
    30        They are done by areas; they are done by jobs and so on.
    31        Then if you thought the comparison helped you, you could
    32        see if McDonald's were prepared to agree the information on
    33        certain pages which you can photograph.  They are all
    34        tabulated columns.  You can just photograph a similar page
    35        and say:  "Do you agree this?"  If they do agree that, then
    36        you can look at your June 1989 figures on page 672 because
    37        they are the rates which then prevailed over the period
    38        when you are alleged to have participated in the
    39        publication of the leaflet, and you can present whatever
    40        argument you want to.
    41
    42        I do not know.  You may think that, whether or not it is in
    43        a present statement or document, you can do better than
    44        that, but it is just something I suggest.  It is just as
    45        easy to look at as G1.
    46
    47   MS. STEEL:  Right.  We will see if we can get hold of a copy.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  If you cannot get the exact ones, what I know
    50        a lot of courts have accepted -- certainly in another 
    51        jurisdiction -- you can look at the rates have risen over 
    52        the years before or the years afterwards and work out that, 
    53        by and large, they have risen on an average of something
    54        like 2 and 3 per cent per annum.  You can do a bit of
    55        mental arithmetic.  It is not precise but on balance of
    56        probability it is good enough to give a pointer of what the
    57        rate would have been in a missing year.  Do not forget, we
    58        are not just interested in hourly rates; we are interested
    59        in what people get at the end of the week.
    60

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