Day 173 - 16 Oct 95 - Page 49


     
     1   Q.   Rate 2, which Mr. Mosrek, for example, was given at the
     2        beginning of March, despite the fact that he had only
     3        joined the Company at the end of December?
     4        A.  Yes.  We give discretionary raises as well as
     5        performance reviews.
     6
     7   Q.   So all the raises that were down to people having been
     8        there for 90 days from 25th November were discretionary
     9        raises?
    10        A.  They probably could have been, yes.
    11
    12   Q.   On the following page, you say: "Martin Coughlin should be
    13        questioned as to the reaction of each crew member to the
    14        review."
    15
    16        Why should you want to question Mr. Coughlin about the
    17        reaction of crew members to the reviews?
    18        A.  I cannot recall specifically, other than it would be
    19        normal for me to ask, you know, how the reviews have been
    20        accepted; and particularly at that point at an early stage
    21        in the opening of the restaurant.
    22
    23   Q.   You were hoping, were you not, that if you gave them a pay
    24        rise the rumblings of discontent and interest in the union
    25        would be dropped?
    26        A.  Well, I had not set out to do that, but at that
    27        particular point I did have some very violent pickets on
    28        the premises.
    29
    30   Q.   This was before the picketing started; this was
    31        28th February.
    32        A.  I probably wanted to make sure that -- I mean,
    33        considering Mosrek's comment about he felt he was
    34        underpaid, I wanted to address the problem.
    35
    36   Q.   You said that: "Mr. Mosrek's reaction was reasonably
    37        positive but, again, a deeper discussion should take place
    38        with Martin on these reviews.  I have heard nothing further
    39        from the ITGWU, and I feel that we have the crew on our
    40        side, at least 90 per cent, and that most of them realise
    41        that an outside party will not do anything further for them
    42        and in fact may even diminish the benefits they now have."
    43
    44        You are making it quite plain there, are you not, that the
    45        whole purpose of these pay reviews was to buy off the
    46        people who were interested in the union and discontented?
    47        A.  I certainly wanted to ensure that my staff felt they
    48        were being treated correctly; and I reacted to a complaint
    49        and, consequently, I ensured that raises went through on
    50        their rates of pay, considering one of the complaints that 
    51        I had from one particular person was that the rates of pay 
    52        were considered low. 
    53
    54   Q.   You were preparing for battle, were you not, and you were
    55        trying to get as many -- you were trying to persuade as
    56        many of the crew that it was not worth them joining the
    57        union and getting involved in a dispute?
    58        A.  No, that was not my intention.
    59
    60   Q.   The following page, page 968, is a letter to you from the

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