Day 138 - 20 Jun 95 - Page 45
1 I was also at that meeting. There were Croc
2 representatives, there were representatives by this second
3 union.
4
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That is CTM, was it?
6 A. No, it is another national union.
7
8 MR. RAMPTON: A third one?
9 A. Yes, I cannot, for the life of me -- it is Spanish;
10 Ramone Gomez is its president. He was the gentleman who
11 was responsible for this union but, boy, it is a Spanish
12 name and it did not have an acronym, so I was at a loss to
13 really know what its full name is. He was there, the Under
14 Secretary of Labour was there, and there was a meeting to
15 try to resolve the various claims in the dispute. Also
16 employees were there. The employees had selected leaders.
17
18 Q. What actually happened?
19 A. At that meeting, Croc turned to the second union and
20 told the second union that it authorised them, the second
21 union, to represent the employees. They chose the second
22 union, Croc chose the second union. The employees said:
23 Under those circumstances, they wanted us to recognise the
24 second union and be done with this.
25
26 Q. Was the second union recognised?
27 A. Yes, it was by a written agreement of all the parties.
28
29 Q. Did Croc then retire from the field of battle?
30 A. Yes, they did. The employees who were loading on
31 buses, instead of coming down town, went directly to their
32 restaurant and were met by is Saul Kahan and they reopened
33 the restaurant.
34
35 Q. Saul Kahan recognised the union?
36 A. Yes.
37
38 Q. The new union?
39 A. The second union as I call it.
40
41 Q. Not Croc?
42 A. No.
43
44 Q. And has that union, or some other union, remained
45 recognised within Mr. Kahan's operations since then?
46 A. Yes, and there have been continuous successive
47 contracts.
48
49 Q. How many stores are there now in Mexico?
50 A. Throughout the entire country there are probably a
51 little over 100.
52
53 Q. Are any of them not organised, unionised?
54 A. No, they are all organised.
55
56 Q. Does the Company in Oak Brook have any problem with that?
57 A. None whatsoever.
58
59 Q. Aside from what must for you be an alarming experience at
60 the hand of this mob of people with rods and bats, was
