Day 121 - 04 May 95 - Page 12
1 come across unions being discussed are the three that I
2 have mentioned.
3
4 Q. Right.
5 A. They were very minor affairs, which I treated as
6 important, I wanted to get our company policy across, but I
7 was not disturbed by them.
8
9 Q. Would you be concerned that there may be rumours going
10 around the Company about its policies -- it may be trade
11 unions, it may be something else -- that were not being
12 countered by official Company memos? For example, people
13 may hear a rumour that the Company is anti-union, would
14 that concern you?
15 A. I cannot think of any circumstances where I have heard
16 rumours that have alarmed me so much that I felt I should
17 put something out to counter it. No, I cannot take this
18 any further. I have not ever been aware of rumours about
19 trade unions that have caused me to feel it would be
20 necessary to put out a rumour (sic).
21
22 Q. If there were false rumours circulating about the Company's
23 attitude to trade unions, would that be something that
24 would concern you?
25 A. Well, it would depend -- I am hypothesising here -- it
26 would depend upon what I felt was the seriousness of the
27 rumour, and whether it could be pinned down to a particular
28 spot. If I was concerned about it (and it has not
29 happened), if I was concerned about it, I would go out and
30 speak to the crew who I felt were unhappy. What it would
31 mean, you see, is that we are failing to communicate and
32 that would concern me.
33
34 Q. Right. Because, as you have said, you have never actually
35 issued any -----
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Whatever the truth of the matter is, you are
38 talking from different bases.
39
40 MR. MORRIS: If we look at point 29 on page 11, Mark Davis
41 says: "Siamak Alimi, his allegations concerning the
42 joining of a trade union are false. It is not Company
43 policy to sack someone who has joined a union. There has
44 never been such a policy, although it is fair to say that
45 at that time there were occasionally false rumours
46 circulating about McDonald's policy on trades unions".
47 A. Yes.
48
49 Q. So there been have been rumours circulating but you were
50 not aware of them?
51 A. They have not reached me.
52
53 Q. Does it concern you, that things may be going on ---
54 A. No, because ---
55
56 Q. -- affecting crews?
57 A. -- you have really got to ask Mark Davis as to what the
58 degree this was. The fact that it did not get to me would
59 indicate that it was never taken seriously, no-one was
60 concerned about it. If they were concerned about it, they
