Day 187 - 13 Nov 95 - Page 13
1
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It did not matter,, but there are situations
3 where it might.
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5 THE INTERPRETER: OK.
6
7 MR. MORRIS: One final question on that. He said it was an
8 example. Without giving details, were there other examples
9 of people not being paid the minimum rate, official minimum
10 rate?
11 A. He said, yes, there are several.
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13 Q. (5): "Numerous overtime hours were not paid." I know what
14 this means, and it does need some explanation. Can he
15 explain what he means by overtime hours not being paid?
16 A. In France, wages are calculated bi-weekly, so the
17 workers were paid for eight hours of work, where in fact
18 they were working 11 or 12 hours. They were not paid for
19 this difference. It is for this that, in his statement,
20 I say to my Manager that I am owed 855 hours of overtime.
21 This does not only affect me, it affects several other
22 workers.
23
24 Q. These points we have just heard, these six points, were
25 they subject of legal judgments later?
26 A. Yes. He said he has brought -- I have brought all the
27 judgments with me in this sheet of papers. All these
28 rulings were made in favour of the workers.
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30 Q. I am sorry, I did not read out the last one; I missed that.
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32 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Carry on reading.
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34 MR. MORRIS: "Taxi fares for those working after midnight were
35 not reimbursed, contravening the convention. The
36 management refused to take notice of these serious problems
37 and I decided to circulate a petition amongst the
38 employees."
39
40 Can I just ask, is that the petition which has been
41 disclosed?
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43 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, keep away from the documents. I do not
44 think I am handicapping you, actually, but the fact is
45 I made a ruling about that. If, for instance, Mr. Rampton
46 were to suggest that there was not a petition, then in
47 re-examination we might see it. But a lot of these things
48 which you are seeking to verify may not be challenged,
49 either because they are agreed or because Mr. Rampton
50 cannot challenge them.
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52 MR. MORRIS: Without looking at any documents, a simple
53 question: was McDonald's France aware of these complaints?
54 A. Yes.
55
56 Q. "A Supervisor called me to a meeting in his office."
57
58 Can I just say, actually, it might be an important time to
59 look at the document about the hierarchy -- I think that is
60 quite crucial -- which is B2.
