Day 172 - 12 Oct 95 - Page 50
1 Head Office in the U.K. used to come in fairly regularly as
2 well. On one occasion 'Mr. Big Mac (U.K.)' himself came
3 into the store. He was a highly patronising American. I
4 was disgusted by the man - he kept putting his arm round
5 the Managers and talking to them in an appalling way.
6
7 18. I am of the view that McDonald's brainwashes its
8 employees. The Training Manual was extensive, pumping vast
9 amounts of information down the hierarchy. The whole
10 system worked by having large amounts of information
11 regarding procedures constantly pumped downwards in an
12 incessant flow. The system cannot really go wrong at all,
13 it is so mechanised. There is a chain of command from the
14 man at the top right down to the person who cleans the
15 toilets, and everyone is expected to know their procedure.
16 In the crew room, for example, one is expected to read all
17 procedure documents put up on the noticeboards regarding
18 things such as how to make Big Macs.
19
20 19. No-one ever mentioned a Trade Union while I was
21 there. I have no time for Unions personally, and in the
22 Republic of Ireland, there is enough employee protection by
23 law for Unions to be basically unnecessary. I was
24 surprised when I first came over to England by how little
25 protection employees are given under the law, so
26 I understand why things are different with regard to
27 Unions. The foreign employees were not interested in
28 anything like Unions - they just wanted the work. Other
29 employees were not interested either. Unions were just not
30 an issue which seemed at all relevant to anybody at
31 McDonald's. Back in Ireland, I used to work for a hotel
32 group as a kitchen electrician. The whole industry was
33 unionised and everyone down to the most menial employee
34 earned good money."
35
36 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is just the second sentence.
37
38 MR. MORRIS: Yes. 20: "... The general Management practice was
39 that where a person was not liked or was perceived not to
40 be pulling his or her weight, that person's life was made a
41 misery and he or she generally left.
42
43 21. I do not regret working at McDonald's, but I did not
44 particularly enjoy it. I would describe the McDonald's
45 style of employment as being similar to rats running round
46 the maze, being prodded with an electric probe in order to
47 correct deviation. Nicholas Magill."
48
49 Although that is not signed, it is the cover letter ---
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
52
53 MR. MORRIS: -- reinforces them anyway. "Continuation to
54 Statement", heading, "24 hour shifts"; the reference
55 numbers in that ----
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Leave them out because they do not relate to
58 any other document we have got.
59
60 MR. MORRIS: OK.
