Day 139 - 21 Jun 95 - Page 56


     
     1        that up with references ----
     2
     3   MR. RAMPTON:  No, Mr. Morris cannot back it up.
     4
     5   MR. MORRIS:  -- is quite capable of running McDonald's stores as
     6        he had already been given the authority to do throughout
     7        Central America and the Caribbean, and the real reason that
     8        his franchise was terminated is because he had an agreement
     9        with the Gastronomical Workers' Union?
    10        A.  That is absurd.  Can I try to help this just a little
    11        bit?  I know I normally should not.  Mr. Gibson had had a
    12        contract with the Gastronomical Workers, again I was not
    13        around.  From looking at the Labour Relations history when
    14        I got there in '74, he had had that contract for ten or 12
    15        years prior to 1974.
    16
    17   MR. RAMPTON:  Are you listening, Mr. Morris?  He is giving an
    18        answer to the question.
    19
    20   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do not, please, Mr. Rampton.
    21
    22   MR. RAMPTON:  I am sorry, my Lord.  I do find it difficult.  The
    23        witness is giving ----
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There must have been a thousand times in my
    26        30 years at the Bar that, while listening to a witness's
    27        answer, I was actually writing a note at the same time.
    28
    29   MR. RAMPTON:  It may be.  Sorry if Mr. Morris was listening.
    30
    31   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What is suggested to you is this.  If the
    32        whole business of terminating Gibson's franchise for low
    33        operational standards was a charade, and that what you were
    34        doing is getting fed up with him because he reached an
    35        agreement with a union.
    36        A.  Absolutely ----
    37
    38   Q.   What do you say to that?
    39        A.  Absolutely not, my Lord.
    40
    41   Q.   Then you were going to say why you said that?
    42        A.  Yes, my Lord.  What I was saying was in tracing the
    43        Labour Relations history when I got down there in '74 the
    44        union had been there for ten or 12 years.
    45
    46   Q.   Yes.
    47        A.  It was of no consequence to the Company at all.  I did
    48        not even know that until I got down there.
    49
    50   MR. MORRIS:  You did do a bit of ancient history then? 
    51        A.  I had to because of the NLRB proceedings and that 
    52        became a pertinent fact in the NLRB proceedings. 
    53
    54   Q.   The agreement with the union that Mr. Gibson had made was
    55        close to expiring, was it not, when you got down there?
    56        A.  Yes, it had either expired or was close to expiry when
    57        I got there.
    58
    59   Q.   You said the agreement which Mr. Gibson had entered into
    60        with the union was close to expiring?

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