Day 174 - 17 Oct 95 - Page 31


     
     1        about your anti-union point or Miss Holmes or Mr. Mrozek,
     2        the next stage being, I assume, 1985.
     3
     4   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  If I just ask a final point about the
     5        aftermath of the strike.
     6
     7        (To the witness)  The effect of not meeting with the union,
     8        when you had union members at the end of the strike, and of
     9        dismissing and discriminating against union activists --
    10        exactly how many is open to debate, but we know for certain
    11        it was applied to Jimmy Macken, Anne Holmes, and
    12        Sean Mrozek says it applied to him, but we will have to
    13        wait for him to give evidence on that -- the effect was to
    14        break the union organisation after the strike?
    15        A.  No.
    16
    17   Q.   You just hoped it would all fizzle out and you would be
    18        left with a happy position, in your estimation, of having a
    19        nice, non-union company again?
    20        A.  No, I do not agree with that, Mr. Morris.  We took the
    21        strikers back into our employment.
    22
    23   Q.   You had to, because that was part of the agreement that
    24        they won?
    25        A.  We took them back.
    26
    27   Q.   Yes; and then your tactics, from the moment they walked
    28        back into the store, was to get rid of them by one means or
    29        another or to demoralise them so that the union
    30        organisation would fizzle out?
    31        A.  I do not agree with that.
    32
    33   MR. MORRIS:   OK.  We will just have a think to see if there is
    34        anything more on this issue.
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.  Take a seat, Mr. Mehigan.
    37
    38        One thing which you may bear in mind when you call
    39        Mr. Pearson or Mr. Turnbull -- because I do not know the
    40        answer -- is the extent to which union activity tends to be
    41        initiated by union officers or by members of the union in
    42        particular workplaces, or whether it just varies from
    43        situation to situation, because I do not know the answer to
    44        that.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  I mean, we would appreciate any questions you
    47        wish to ask our witnesses.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL: No.  This is not directed at Mr. Mehigan.
    50        What I do not know is whether you can say as a general rule 
    51        union interest in approaching an employer to increase wage 
    52        rates or change conditions of employment in some respect is 
    53        normally initiated by employees at the workplace who happen
    54        to be union members or is initiated by union officers, if
    55        it occurs that things might be different, or whether the
    56        truth is that it varies from situation to situation and
    57        there is no general rule.  I am not familiar enough with
    58        the subject.  I do not have any knowledge of my own.
    59
    60        I imagine it might be different, depending on the degree of

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