Day 303 - 19 Nov 96 - Page 37
1 a fairly straightforward way.
2
3 MR. JUSTICE BELL: She may be an honest woman.
4
5 MR. RAMPTON: Unlike all the other McDonald's witnesses.
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7 MR. MORRIS: Can we quote Mr. Rampton?
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9 MR. RAMPTON: I am quoting you, Mr. Morris.
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11 MR. MORRIS: I am afraid to say I do not think McDonald's
12 ----
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14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: She may be an honest woman who has enough
15 gumption to set up her own business and just says it as she
16 recalls it.
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18 MR. MORRIS: I think it definitely helped having the film
19 there. There are various comments about the rap sessions.
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21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You say she gave some insight into what
22 happens?
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24 MR. MORRIS: Yes, I think so. She backed up what it said in the
25 film and in some cases, because of cross-examination, she
26 went further. She said that staff had to ask permission to
27 leave at the end of a shift. This is on page 2 of day
28 162. All the other references were 161. She said that 97
29 hours in one week was probably an exaggeration, and that
30 she had heard a similar allegation at the time of his
31 departure. She had heard that from Head Office. So it
32 seems that in fact this was something like that was the
33 reality. That was a manager.
34
35 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That was the young man who was appeared on
36 the film?
37
38 MR. MORRIS: Yes. Page 5 on 162 she said "apart from things
39 I have said in the witness box, the film is a fair
40 representation". So not only is it an accurate
41 representation, it is a fair representation as well. Also
42 on page 5 she said it was pretty hectic at the Strand,
43 "most of the time". She explained how the lettuce was
44 used. Food products were used that were out of date,
45 although it was not that often, she said on page 6, line
46 29, which referred to the lettuce which had a shelf life of
47 seven days. It is quite remarkable how long some food
48 products, apparently, are being kept. That is all on page
49 6.
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51 She did say something to the effect on page 7, lines 17 and
52 28 that they must continue production. I think that is a
53 reference to really the pressure is on to keep the products
54 flowing whatever happens and she expected -- sorry, all of
55 the toasters are hot enough to burn on the side, she said.
56 One interesting thing she said about the Strand was, she
57 said that students were kept on the payroll for up to three
58 months and it would not surprise her if it happened
59 nationally, which basically confirmed what we had
60 originally, instinctively thought would be the case, which
