Day 187 - 13 Nov 95 - Page 32
1 staff on a daily basis. Overnight, I became an outcast, no
2 longer a part of the management team as before, and yet not
3 part of the staff team (crew).
4
5 "I have also suffered as I have been unable to express
6 myself as a trade unionist - for example, neither
7 Hassen Lamti nor myself have been able to express ourselves
8 regarding working conditions at swing managers meetings
9 from which we have been excluded.
10
11 "M. Lamti and I have be unable to participate in team
12 social events as we had to work on those days. In Lyon the
13 procedure for such meetings is as follows: whenever one
14 McDonald's branch organises a staff social evening, the
15 staff timetabled to work on that evening are replaced from
16 another branch. At the first such evening the Manager
17 Mr. Parassin told me he had been unable to find me a
18 replacement. The same thing happened on the next
19 occasion.
20
21 "M. Lamti also found his previously agreed timetable
22 modified that particular day and that he had been assigned
23 to the later shift, finishing at 2.30 a.m. and therefore
24 was unable to attend the staff party.
25
26 "On the morning of 29th January 1994 the CFDT organised a
27 distribution of leaflets, and posters had been put up at
28 the entrance of the underground station facing the
29 restaurant where I work. I arrived at work at 2 p.m. and
30 was told by the shift manager to go quickly to the kitchen
31 as there was only one crew member on duty and the
32 restaurant was busy. Around 2.30 p.m. the manager came to
33 me with a "special mission". He took me outside and said
34 I had to take down the CFDT posters.
35
36 "At round 3 p.m. another manager who had taken over the
37 shift came to get me to work in the kitchen where there was
38 no longer a member of staff. I advised him that he would
39 need to check with Mr. Parassin, the branch manager, before
40 changing me to that post. Having spoken with Mr. Parassin,
41 the shift manager came to tell me that he was very sorry
42 but I would have to remain taking down the posters of 'my
43 little friends'. I remained outside in McDonald's uniform
44 (skirt and short sleeved blouse) until 6.30 p.m. in
45 mid-winter.
46
47 "Confronted by this obvious evidence of discrimination
48 against union activities and as all my verbal requests
49 remained unanswered, whatever the motivations, my relations
50 with the management were only by way of registered mail.
51 The election of the works council of the Economic and
52 Social Unit of McDonald's..."
53
54 Can I just explain that? That is the 12 stores in the Lyon
55 area.
56
57 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes.
58
59 MR. MORRIS: The Economic and Social Unit.
60
