Day 195 - 04 Dec 95 - Page 05
1 non-management position. I am currently a full-time
2 postgraduate student at Berkbeck College, London
3 University.
4
5 I had no connection with Steve Percy ('SP') and Harriet
6 Lamb ('HL') prior to publication of the TICL booklet".
7 That is the Transnational Information Centre?
8 A. London.
9
10 Q. London; is that right?
11 A. That is right.
12
13 Q. "When I read The Guardian article, I got in touch with TICL
14 to obtain a copy of the booklet. I also asked to be put in
15 touch with the two people who wrote the article and the
16 booklet because I was looking to write a follow up
17 article. I wanted to expand on the story because I thought
18 that, whilst everything that SP and HL had said was
19 correct, they had left a lot of issues incomplete". When
20 you said you wanted to expand on the story, was that The
21 Guardian article or the booklet?
22 A. I think at the time I must have had the booklet in
23 mind.
24
25 Q. OK. "For example, I think there is a lot more that can be
26 said about McDonald's attitude to Trade Unions, although
27 more research would have to be done to get the facts
28 together. I also think that breaches of labour laws
29 warranted further attention, e.g. examples of girls under
30 the age of 18 being kept past 10 o'clock at night in
31 McDonald's stores.
32
33 Whilst working at the Colchester store, I was told by the
34 Managers (particularly the Floor Manager, Simon Gibney)
35 that if anyone joined a union or even seriously considered
36 joining a union, they would be sacked. However, I was told
37 that the management would not attribute the sackings to
38 trade union activities. A different reason would be given
39 or the management would simply make life unpleasant so that
40 the crew member left. I do not want Simon Gibney to be
41 named at all in these proceedings since, so far as I am
42 aware, Simon Gibney still works at McDonalds and I have no
43 doubt that McDonald's will attack him. Simon Gibney would
44 not be prepared to give evidence against McDonald's in
45 court - he is very committed to his career at McDonald's.
46
47 One employee, Paul Jackson, was sacked because he was known
48 to want to form a union amongst the crew members. He was
49 also said to be a communist but I am not entirely convinced
50 that this latter point is correct. Paul Jackson was sacked
51 for 'gross misconduct'. I have not seen Paul Jackson since
52 he was dismissed from the store. I was told by Simon
53 Gibney, whom I believe to be 100 per cent reliable in this
54 case, that Jackson was dismissed because of his
55 anti-management activities.
56
57 During one conversation I had with Simon Gibney he referred
58 to Jackson as being a member of the MFF - the McDonald's
59 Freedom Fighters. I was not entirely sure whether the
60 organisation referred to was a genuine organisation to
