Day 139 - 21 Jun 95 - Page 35


     
     1   Q.   It was a car squad that -----
     2        A.  Yes.  Unfortunately, it was not a real long situation,
     3        so I did not get to save a whole lot of time.
     4
     5   Q.   So how long was this dispute; over what period of time, in
     6        terms of the Company knowing that the union was interested,
     7        and trying to recruit and have an election, until it
     8        was finalised?
     9        A.  Let me try to think back on this one, because when
    10        there is an unit hearing, it sometimes takes the agency a
    11        couple of months or so between the hearing and writing the
    12        decision.  Probably, all told, three to four months.
    13        I could be off a little bit.
    14
    15   Q.   (Pause)  Sorry, I want to have a think about where I am
    16        going with this.  So there was a staff party, was there,
    17        around this time, a special staff party?  One of the
    18        allegations of sweeteners included -- I read that from the
    19        pleading -- that there was a special staff party, sports
    20        clothes, free meals, and that sort of thing, put in the
    21        pleading.  Those things all occurred, did they?
    22        A.  Could we take them one at a time, so I know what you
    23        are asking?
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Put them individually, Mr. Morris.
    26
    27   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  Was there a special staff party around this
    28        time and, if so, for what reason?
    29        A.  Not that I recall.  The difficulty I would have is
    30        that, as a normal occurrence in any McDonald's restaurants,
    31        there are social outings, there are events, one event,
    32        usually, for our crew every six weeks; that is a standard
    33        practice, whether it is going to a sports event, whether it
    34        is having a disco, that we have talked about earlier,
    35        whether it is having a party over something.  As a normal
    36        consequence in a McDonald's setting, those kinds of social
    37        events are very, very common.  So if you are asking me if
    38        there was a party during that time, it is possible, but
    39        I would not focus on a party.  I mean, it was not any
    40        anti-union thing, if this is what you are driving at; it
    41        would just be a normal crew social event.
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Was that one of the allegations of
    44        "sweeteners" at the time, can you recall?
    45        A.  My Lord, with all due respect to the court, these
    46        allegations of sweeteners are things that come up almost in
    47        every -- whether it is McDonald's or someone else.  It is
    48        hard to remember with specificity.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  I have got more details. 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Put more detail. 
    53
    54   MR. MORRIS:  We have a document, one of the Defendants'
    55        documents, with a more detailed account of this event.  The
    56        question is -- it is a document at 145 of the Defendants',
    57        it should be, first list.
    58
    59   THE WITNESS:   Is that what I have?
    60

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