Day 150 - 07 Jul 95 - Page 46
1 another area, who did not have any axe to grind or any
2 feelings that they could not hear it in a full and frank
3 discussion.
4
5 Q. But, in your experience, do rap sessions achieve that
6 purpose?
7 A. They do.
8
9 Q. Can you just take me through an average rap session -- very
10 briefly -- in your experience, not the theory but how they
11 actually work in practice in situations where you have been
12 attending one?
13 A. First and foremost, it is a matter of putting people at
14 their ease because I think there may well be about 10 or so
15 people at the rap session. So, I would generally just
16 break the ice a little bit and just try to relax everybody
17 so they did not feel that I was there trying to find out
18 what was really bad about the restaurant.
19
20 We would work our way through the list of the building, the
21 maintenance, the hours, the schedule and just making sure
22 that those were the opinions of the restaurant itself, of
23 all the people working in the restaurant. So, if someone
24 had a particularly negative thing to say, then it was part
25 of my responsibility almost more than anything else just to
26 make sure that it was not something that was personal to
27 them, whether or not it was endemic in the restaurant.
28
29 Q. Were people forced to go to these rap sessions?
30 A. No.
31
32 Q. I mean, you say 10 or so people?
33 A. I have done rap sessions with maybe three or four
34 people there. Depending on how big the restaurant is, and
35 most managers would schedule their rap sessions for maybe 5
36 or 6 o'clock to try to get some of the part-timers along if
37 they were available.
38
39 Q. Were people paid for going along to these, in your
40 experience?
41 A. They were. All I would do then is I would send a piece
42 of paper around, they could put their name on it, and then
43 hand it into the Manager -- because again in those days it
44 was a manual clock card system -- and give them the list to
45 make sure everybody did get paid. In fact, I would tell
46 them right at the beginning as well.
47
48 Q. First of all, who picked people to go along? Were they
49 self-selected or was it a management decision?
50 A. What generally would happen is that a notice would go
51 up on the crew notice board saying that: "Frank Stanton is
52 coming to our restaurant on July 7th at 4 o'clock p.m. to
53 do a rap session. This is the opportunity to give your
54 views" etc. etc.
55
56 Then, generally, I think most restaurants would put a list
57 up or maybe speak to the Manager. The only way that they
58 would be selected, so to speak, is if, for example, that
59 person was working a shift at the time of the rap session
60 and then it is my experience that the Manager would try to
