Day 188 - 15 Nov 95 - Page 66


     
     1             after this week off to find that my locker in
     2             the crew room which contained all the union
     3             membership forms and leaflets had been broken
     4             into.  The only other item that was in the
     5             locker at the time was a pair of shoes, which
     6             were still there, but all the literature and
     7             forms had gone.  The literature and forms were
     8             of little value.  They could easily have been
     9             replaced.  However, the shoes were certainly of
    10             some value and yet they had not been removed.
    11
    12             I had my own lock on the locker, a padlock, and
    13             this was gone.  I was the only person who had a
    14             key to the locker.  So far as I was aware, this
    15             had never happened in the store before.  I went
    16             to complain to management immediately.  At no
    17             time did he mention what was gone from the
    18             locker."
    19
    20        I do not know whether that is supposed to be "I mentioned"
    21        -- I just was wondering if that should be -----
    22
    23   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I am going to put "I" instead of "he" because
    24        that seems the obvious sense.
    25
    26   MS. STEEL:   Unless it was, did he ask what was gone from the
    27        locker, but it could be either.
    28
    29   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I will put "I" query.
    30
    31   MR. MORRIS:  It must be "I", I think.
    32
    33   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is not going to decide the case.
    34
    35   MS. STEEL:   No.
    36
    37             "I just complained that it had been broken
    38             into.  I spoke to the Manager of the store,
    39             Tony, who said that it was he who had removed
    40             the lock from my locker.  He claimed that the
    41             Company had a right to do this in accordance
    42             with my employment contract and also in
    43             accordance with the sign which was placed up in
    44             the crew room.  This sign pointed out that
    45             lockers were only meant to be used by crew
    46             members for the duration of their shift.  No
    47             employee was meant to keep a lock on the locker
    48             beyond the time when they left the store.  They
    49             were meant to empty their locker at the end of
    50             each shift. 
    51 
    52             The sign warned that in the event of an employee 
    53             leaving a lock on a locker beyond the end of
    54             their shift management reserved the right to
    55             place their own lock over the employee's lock
    56             and to charge the employee a fee for the removal
    57             of the management lock.
    58
    59             Whilst I accept that the sign was up in the crew
    60             room, every single employee had his/her 'own'

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