Day 180 - 31 Oct 95 - Page 11


     
     1        in maintaining regular contact with crew interested in
     2        joining a union."
     3
     4        Next bullet point: "Fear of dismissal.  Of the 27 witness
     5        statements from former employees, 14 referred to trade
     6        unionism.  Company hostility, real or perceived, features
     7        in most of these cases.  Until 1995, part-time staff have
     8        had to work for five years and full-timers for two years
     9        before gaining the right to claim wrongful dismissal at an
    10        industrial tribunal."
    11
    12   MR. JUSTICE BELL: Could you just pause there?  The change
    13        earlier this year, was that to bring part-timers into line
    14        with full-timers of two years?
    15        A.  It was.
    16
    17   Q.   Any other change of substance?
    18        A.  That is the key issue, as regards this evidence.
    19
    20   Q.   They did not cut down the two years for full-timers?
    21        A.  No.  It was a levelling to two years.
    22
    23   MR. MORRIS:  Does that only apply to trade unionism, that?
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  It gave part-timers the same
    26        qualification period as full-timers for an application for
    27        wrongful dismissal.  That was my recollection, but I wanted
    28        to see if it was correct.
    29
    30   THE WITNESS:  It is correct, my Lord.
    31
    32   MR. MORRIS:  "And" -- and it is the last bullet
    33        point -- "employment conditions potentially restricting
    34        trade union activity in a restaurant:  see Crew Handbook,
    35        page 24, conditions k and l, which would debar the
    36        distribution of union literature or the collection of union
    37        dues, whether staff are on or off duty.
    38
    39        "14.  For these reasons, the McDonald's staffing and labour
    40        relations system, in my view, is fundamentally inimicable
    41        to unions.  This may appear in the form of a prevailing
    42        anti-union-initiatives culture at store management level,
    43        as would appear from the employee statements; or in the
    44        arrival of senior personnel at the scene of tentative first
    45        attempts to establish a union presence; I refer to
    46        Mr. Nicholson's statement, paragraphs 29-42.
    47        Notwithstanding his denial in paragraph 34 (no policy of
    48        getting rid of pro-union workers) employee statements
    49        confirm such incidents in Dublin; or refer to the fear of
    50        dismissal; or to rumours of McDonald's closing down a 
    51        unionised restaurant; or to the belief that a pretext would 
    52        be found for dismissing staff interested in unions.  The 
    53        company appears to take few steps to ensure that all staff
    54        are aware of their right to join a trade union, and that
    55        union membership would not put their employment in
    56        jeopardy.
    57
    58        "15.  What would a reasonable modern employer, willing to
    59        recognise a trade union, offer its workforce?  At a
    60        well-unionised restaurant, the size of a typical McDonald's

Prev Next Index