Day 125 - 12 May 95 - Page 30
1 service; that is correct, is it not?
2 A. To the customer?
3
4 Q. Yes, the preparation behind the till as well?
5 A. Yes. There is a team work.
6
7 Q. The speed?
8 A. There is team work that takes place among all members
9 of the crew. Obviously, you cannot serve the customer
10 better if the fries are not ready in time or -----
11
12 Q. So, the reality is that the spirit of competition and urge
13 to increase speed is creating unsafe working conditions for
14 the staff, is it not?
15 A. No, it is not.
16
17 Q. And greater profits for the employer?
18 A. No, it is not.
19
20 Q. That is what hustle is all about, is it not? Boosting your
21 profits at the expense of the safety of the workers as the
22 Health & Safety Executive ------
23 A. That is not correct. I think I have been pretty
24 detailed on what I thought hustle was, what it means. I do
25 not want to be redundant and repeat it, but in no way does
26 hustle mean that we want our employees to compromise their
27 safety.
28
29 We think hustle, as an overall operating philosophy, is
30 something that is good for the operation of our
31 restaurant. It helps one another. It also serves the
32 customer the better. Our customers are happy with the fact
33 that our people move with purpose. When we conduct
34 customer satisfaction surveys, no matter whether it is in
35 the United States or any country in the world, people have
36 a very high opinion, a very high opinion, of our employees
37 and the manner in which generally they service them.
38
39 Q. Do you remember the first National Hamburger Olympics
40 around 1972, set up by McDonald's in Las Vegas?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. Set up by Jim Kuhm?
44 A. Jim Kuhm, K-U-H-M.
45
46 Q. Jim Kuhm, yes. That was for McDonald's workers to compete
47 in the stuffing of french fries and pouring cokes and
48 flipping hamburgers, yes, and get prizes?
49 A. Yes.
50
51 MS. STEEL: That was employees from all over the United States
52 in that competition?
53 A. We had market competitions, regional competitions, and
54 then the best of the best were selected and they
55 participated in that trip. I can tell you at the time
56 I was a Regional Manager in New York. I thought that that
57 had a tremendous impact on crew people in all of the area
58 that I was responsible for, New York, New Jersey,
59 Connecticut. People felt, the crew people, felt
60 important. They felt that McDonald's valued the job that
