Day 180 - 31 Oct 95 - Page 09
1 MR. MORRIS: ".....accompanied by a solicitor on behalf of the
2 plaintiffs and an area supervisor. I had asked to see the
3 store in operation at peak times, and to receive certain
4 overall statistical information on the workforce at the two
5 stores. However, these requests were denied.
6
7 "6. It is only possible to gain a comprehensive picture of
8 working conditions through direct contact with employees.
9 However, I was not granted permission to discuss with crew
10 some of the issues which are in contention, including:
11 staff views on trade unionism in the company, its relevance
12 and desirability; opinions on staffing levels, shift
13 arrangements, working hours, overtime worked and other
14 scheduling practices; their experience of health and safety
15 issues at the restaurant; and how, in their view, the need
16 for stores to meet labour cost targets affected work
17 scheduling and standards of health and safety at work.
18
19 "7. I was shown round the cooking and service areas,
20 observed some work practices, discussed some operational
21 issues with managers and perused the accident books and
22 daily food production schedules. Copies of these documents
23 have not been made available to me."
24
25 It may be worth noting that that was a subject of a
26 request, I believe, a formal request. That was from us.
27
28 You also wrote to McDonald's, did you, about those matters,
29 or did you write to us?
30 A. I wrote to McDonald's on those matters.
31
32 Q. Right, OK.
33
34 "8. Although I did not observe the restaurants working at
35 their peak, I was struck by the intense concentration of
36 effort by employees. At each unit, I observed
37 front-of-house staff skip-running" -- emphasise staff
38 skip-running -- "in order to complete the delivery of
39 orders to customers within the required service times.
40
41 "9. Though I was not provided with written details, I was
42 shown the hour-by-hour predicted product sales targets for
43 the week. The expected sales are based on previous
44 experience. This apparently enables managers to schedule
45 staffing levels against predicted sales."
46
47 10. Though I saw the back-of-house areas at off-peak
48 times, they seemed in both instances to be near the limit
49 of their safe working capacity, given that speed of
50 movement is at a premium, regardless of how many customers
51 are in the queue. I examined the stores' accident books,
52 each recording accidents over the previous two to three
53 years. The range of occurrences was similar to those found
54 in the 27 UK and Ireland employee witness statements, which
55 I have examined. I have requested, but not received, a
56 copy of recent entries in these two accident books, though
57 I was given to understand at the time of my visits that
58 this information would be made available.
59
60 "David McGee.
