Day 005 - 04 Jul 94 - Page 65


     
     1        did, what we offered as quickly or as precisely as they
              learned the message today.  Advertising is basically a
     2        promise to your customers to deliver something.  It is not
              a control of their purse strings.  It does not go beyond a
     3        promise.
 
     4        We have to live up to that advertised promise.  If we do,
              we may get and retain their custom.  If we do not live up
     5        to the advertised promise, the chances are there will be
              no business relatively quickly.
     6
         Q.   Is it not true that if the 10 per cent I have identified
     7        could go to the crew labour on top of the, whatever it is,
              17, 18 per cent they earn, it would increase their wages
     8        by something like possibly two thirds, 60 per cent?
              A.  Well, it is just not practical.  As I said earlier, if
     9        we did not advertise, if we had not sold our wears to the
              public and the world and then delivered on that advertised
    10        promise, there would be no business to employ people in.
              There would be no wages to pay in the first place.  We
    11        would have no business.
 
    12   Q.   Mr. Preston, you are suing myself and Helen here for
              saying that you pay low pay.  You have said that is
    13        defamatory; it is a lie.  Yes?  Is that not the fact?
              A.  I am suing you because of the contents of this
    14        document in their entirety.
 
    15   Q.   One of the things you said that it is defamatory that you
              pay low wages -----
    16
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  It is under "Trained to Sweat" at the top
    17        above "Everything Must Go".
              A.  Well, But I think if you read the paragraph in its
    18        entirety, that is not what I am saying.
 
    19   MR. MORRIS:  One of the phrases:  "Workers in catering do badly
              in terms of pay and conditions".  Then it talks about
    20        conditions.  It says:  "Wages are low and chance of
              promotion minimal".  Leaving aside promotion, wages are
    21        low?
              A.  I do not consider them low.  I consider them totally
    22        comparable with everything else available on the high
              street in industry for the ability and availability of the
    23        people in question.  As to "chance of promotion minimal",
              it is an absolute untruth.  Chances for promotion for
    24        those people who genuinely want it are spectacular, as
              evidenced by myself, as evidenced by the chief executive
    25        of the corporation himself who started in the mail room,
              as evidenced by thousands of individuals who have become 
    26        restaurant managers over time. 
  
    27   Q.   Let us have a look at what we would call low wages.  Do
              you have guidelines or policies for stores to keep their
    28        labour costs down?
              A.  No, we do not.  We have guidelines for starting
    29        rates.  We have guidelines on what pay should be market by
              market, historically guided by the Wages Council in this
    30        country.
 

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