Day 173 - 16 Oct 95 - Page 49
1 Q. Rate 2, which Mr. Mosrek, for example, was given at the
2 beginning of March, despite the fact that he had only
3 joined the Company at the end of December?
4 A. Yes. We give discretionary raises as well as
5 performance reviews.
6
7 Q. So all the raises that were down to people having been
8 there for 90 days from 25th November were discretionary
9 raises?
10 A. They probably could have been, yes.
11
12 Q. On the following page, you say: "Martin Coughlin should be
13 questioned as to the reaction of each crew member to the
14 review."
15
16 Why should you want to question Mr. Coughlin about the
17 reaction of crew members to the reviews?
18 A. I cannot recall specifically, other than it would be
19 normal for me to ask, you know, how the reviews have been
20 accepted; and particularly at that point at an early stage
21 in the opening of the restaurant.
22
23 Q. You were hoping, were you not, that if you gave them a pay
24 rise the rumblings of discontent and interest in the union
25 would be dropped?
26 A. Well, I had not set out to do that, but at that
27 particular point I did have some very violent pickets on
28 the premises.
29
30 Q. This was before the picketing started; this was
31 28th February.
32 A. I probably wanted to make sure that -- I mean,
33 considering Mosrek's comment about he felt he was
34 underpaid, I wanted to address the problem.
35
36 Q. You said that: "Mr. Mosrek's reaction was reasonably
37 positive but, again, a deeper discussion should take place
38 with Martin on these reviews. I have heard nothing further
39 from the ITGWU, and I feel that we have the crew on our
40 side, at least 90 per cent, and that most of them realise
41 that an outside party will not do anything further for them
42 and in fact may even diminish the benefits they now have."
43
44 You are making it quite plain there, are you not, that the
45 whole purpose of these pay reviews was to buy off the
46 people who were interested in the union and discontented?
47 A. I certainly wanted to ensure that my staff felt they
48 were being treated correctly; and I reacted to a complaint
49 and, consequently, I ensured that raises went through on
50 their rates of pay, considering one of the complaints that
51 I had from one particular person was that the rates of pay
52 were considered low.
53
54 Q. You were preparing for battle, were you not, and you were
55 trying to get as many -- you were trying to persuade as
56 many of the crew that it was not worth them joining the
57 union and getting involved in a dispute?
58 A. No, that was not my intention.
59
60 Q. The following page, page 968, is a letter to you from the
