Day 142 - 26 Jun 95 - Page 40
1 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, if it is the Rosy Fisher (indecipherable)
2 allegation, it is 114 on page 40, if that is what
3 Mr. Morris is looking for. I do not know.
4
5 MR. MORRIS: I think that kind of summarises the main thrust.
6 A. Which one?
7
8 Q. 114.
9
10 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Page 40.
11
12 MR. MORRIS: I will just read it out.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do not read it out necessarily. Ask
15 Mr. Stein if he would like to read it through so that he is
16 up to speed on it, and then you put what you want to put.
17 What do you want to ask, Mr. Morris?
18
19 MR. MORRIS: You visited Germany, you said, throughout the 80s,
20 was it, at different times?
21 A. At different times during the 80s, yes.
22
23 Q. If you want to go to Eva Marie Sachse's statement which is
24 No. 17 in the yellow XIII?
25 A. Her statement is where?
26
27 Q. In fact, she is the first one, No. 17, in that bundle?
28 A. OK.
29
30 Q. If you look at the second page of her statement, paragraph
31 5, it says: "Before I took over responsibility for
32 Personnel on a nationwide basis throughout Germany in 1986,
33 the relationship between McDonald's Deutschland Inc. and
34 the NGG union was not good. There were a number of
35 conflicts in various regions, specifically in North-Rhine
36 Westphalia, which are often fought out in the media.
37
38 These conflicts usually concerned the founding of employee
39 representation bodies in individual restaurants (the
40 so-called works councils.)" Were you aware of these
41 conflicts?
42 A. I had some some general information, yes. The German
43 company would, essentially, manage its own affairs. It has
44 a Human Resource function. I do not speak the language, so
45 it puts me at a disadvantage. But they do have (and they
46 have had for some time) their own organisation that deals
47 primarily with all of this, but I would have some knowledge
48 having visited there.
49
50 Q. Works councils are legally compulsory organisations in
51 Germany, yes, that the right to elect works councils in
52 workplaces?
53 A. My understanding is if the proper procedures are
54 followed, they are part of the makeup of the German labour
55 laws and how they work in Germany.
56
57 Q. Employers have to follow the proper procedures by law?
58 A. Oh, I think everybody has to follow the proper
59 procedures.
60
