Day 098 - 07 Mar 95 - Page 55


     
     1        Midland Meat Packers.
     2
     3   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Explain what the relevance is, Mr. Morris.
     4
     5   MR. MORRIS:  I want to see if new staff are trained.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Ask that.
     8
     9   MR. MORRIS:  I need to know -----
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, ask that first of all.  Then if you want
    12        to test it, come to the question of turnover.
    13
    14   MR. MORRIS (To the witness):  Staff are trained on the job; is
    15        that correct?
    16        A.  Yes, and they also attend other courses with regard to
    17        health and safety, hygiene, etc.
    18
    19   Q.   But they would come in, the first day they would go on the
    20        job and say:  "This is how it is done" and they would learn
    21        as they were doing it?
    22        A.  The first day -- they have, the whole day is spent with
    23        a basic hygiene and health and safety training etc.
    24
    25   Q.   So when you take someone on, they are just a general hand,
    26        they are not necessarily experienced people when they
    27        start?
    28        A.  Sometimes they are, sometimes they are not.
    29
    30   Q.   So on day 2, they start a particular job in the slaughter
    31        plant?
    32        A.  Right.
    33
    34   Q.   They do not learn that job just from talking to someone,
    35        they learn it on the job; is that correct?
    36        A.  Yes.
    37
    38   Q.   But how long do people generally stay?  Obviously, some
    39        people stay a few days and some people stay 20 years.  But,
    40        I mean how long do people stay in that kind of job on the
    41        floor of the slaughter plant?
    42        A.  Generally a long time.
    43
    44   Q.   A long time?
    45        A.  Yes.
    46
    47   Q.   What is that, a year, two years?
    48        A.  10, 15.  I mean, there are people who have been working
    49        there, been working for the company since it began.
    50 
    51   Q.   What about the people doing the actual slaughtering, the 
    52        killing?  Is that a job that people do for a long time? 
    53        A.  Yes, it is a job that they need to train for for a long
    54        time as well.  So, it is basically the thing to work up to,
    55        I think.  You are not allowed to kind of slaughter unless
    56        you have a lot of experience in the rest of the area.
    57
    58   Q.   So the people who do the slaughter, they are paid peace
    59        rate?
    60        A.  No.

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