Day 138 - 20 Jun 95 - Page 08
1 that process of debate and discussion?
2 A. No, the contrary. We encourage it.
3
4 Q. Mr. Stein, behind you on top of the shelf you should find
5 some loose leaflets. What I am looking for is a copy of
6 that (Indicating) which you may or not have seen before.
7 That is the libel in this case?
8 A. Yes, I have seen that before.
9
10 Q. That is it. Could you turn, please, to the last page but
11 one?
12 A. The last page?
13
14 Q. The last page but one. Do you see a section headed:
15 "What's it like working for McDonald's?", in the middle of
16 the left-hand side?
17 A. Yes, I do.
18
19 Q. "What's it like working for McDonald's?"
20 A. Yes, I have it here.
21
22 Q. It reads: "There must be a serious problem. Even though
23 80 per cent of McDonald's workers are part-time, the annual
24 staff turnover is 60 per cent. In the USA, it is 300 per
25 cent. It is not unusual for their restaurant workers to
26 quit after just four or five weeks. The reasons are not
27 hard to find". I do not ask for any comment about that at
28 this stage, Mr. Stein.
29
30 Then it goes on in capital letters: "No unions allowed".
31 Black blob: "Workers in catering do badly in terms of pay
32 and conditions. They are at work in the evenings and at
33 weekends doing long shifts in hot, smelly, noisy
34 environments. Wages are low, chances of promotion are
35 minimal". Again I have asked you about that so far as
36 I need to at the moment.
37
38 Then it goes on: "To improve this through trade union
39 negotiation is very difficult. There is no union
40 specifically for these workers". Pause there. Is that a
41 statement which is true of the United States or not?
42 A. Not true at all. There are literally, I was going to
43 say scores of unions, but there are hundreds of unions in
44 the United States, maybe beyond hundreds, that are
45 available for employees in our industry.
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It is a question I want someone to inform me
48 about in relation to the UK in due course, but we had
49 mentioned in court of a very large British trade union, The
50 Transport and General Workers Union, which, you will not be
51 surprised to hear, takes an interest in having people in
52 the catering trade as members, but I think what you are
53 being asked is whether there is a union in the United
54 States which is specifically concerned with the interests
55 of people working in the catering industry, not just a
56 union which would be happy to have them as members, but
57 specifically directed at having them as members?
58 A. My Lord, let me try to explain that. If I do not hit
59 the mark, please come back to me.
60
