Day 175 - 18 Oct 95 - Page 45
1 A. One was full-time, Mark James was full-time and James
2 Ray was part-time.
3
4 Q. In the period of that trade union interest, which you have
5 told us about, were you a member of the training squad?
6 A. I was.
7
8 Q. That was in 1986?
9 A. That is right.
10
11 Q. Thank you. The next paragraph, Mr. Whittle: "The
12 atmosphere in the store was very different to that
13 presented to me at my interview. Individual staff or crew
14 members were encouraged to be management sneaks."
15
16 I want to pause there. You gave an example later on --
17 I think there is some kind of a note that we were given at
18 lunch time and then you spoke about it from the witness box
19 -- that a friend of a Manager, the friend being called
20 Lynn, was made a lobby hostess. That was an example of
21 somebody being rewarded, was it, with favours?
22 A. That is right.
23
24 Q. Tell me this: What was the name of the Manager whose
25 friend was this?
26 A. Sue, the Store Manager.
27
28 Q. So Lynn was a friend of Sue; is that right?
29 A. Yes, that is right.
30
31 Q. What was the information that Sue was so grateful to get
32 that she promoted Lynn to be lobby hostess?
33 A. I would not have been party to that, but I think ----
34
35 Q. How do you -- sorry.
36 A. I think the relationship was what the reward was for.
37
38 Q. No, I am sorry, Mr. Whittle, I thought that that was an
39 example of a person being rewarded for being a management
40 sneak. It is your own word. You wrote it.
41 A. It was an example of it, but I think someone who is a
42 sneak is someone who constantly informs on the people
43 around them to someone else and what individual bits of
44 information were I would not know, but I was aware of it
45 taking place and I saw the discussions taking place.
46
47 Q. How do you know what information was imparted during those
48 discussions if you did not hear them?
49 A. Because of the atmosphere in the store and the way that
50 the dynamic changed in the store depending on what was
51 being discussed with whom and in what manner.
52
53 Q. I want you to be careful about this, Mr. Whittle, you see,
54 because, as his Lordship -- you are not a lawyer -- but as
55 his Lordship indicated to you earlier, what other people
56 have told you is not evidence; do you understand that?
57 A. I do understand that.
58
59 Q. Rumour, tittle tattle, gossip, opinion and speculation do
60 not pass for hard fact; do you understand that?
