Day 138 - 20 Jun 95 - Page 05

     
     1        group with other quick service restaurants and we were the
     2        head the organisation, if you will, to participate in the
     3        negotiations with the NGG, which is their national union.
     4
     5   Q.   Is that a bit like joining an employer's association?
     6        A.  We actually formed the employer's association, but to
     7        your point, there are other situations where we become
     8        privy to labour agreements by joining existing employer
     9        associations.
    10
    11   Q.   Perhaps the important question, Mr. Stein -- that is quite
    12        a long list of territories?
    13        A.  I would suspect there are more.
    14
    15   Q.   I understand you to say that, that is why I said I did not
    16        ask you to be exhaustive with that list or a longer list.
    17        Is there anything in this pact of collective agreements in
    18        this different parts of the world, whether directly or
    19        indirectly, to which McDonald's are a party which gives the
    20        Corporation any anxiety, concern or discomfort?
         A.  No, not at all.  If it is the law, or custom, or the
    22        wishes of our employees, so be it.  We will live up to
    23        those obligations.
    24
    25   Q.   Going back to the framework in the United States, you tell
    26        us, I think you have just told us, that a mere -- and I do
    27        say "a mere" -- 13 per cent of the entire national
    28        workforce in the United States is organised.  What is the
    29        Company's attitude, the Corporation's attitude, if a unit
    30        in the United States -- a "unit" in the technical sense --
    31        should become organised?  Does the Company have any
    32        feelings about that?
    33        A.  If a unit were to become organised, our obligation is
    34        to negotiate in good faith with that union.
    35
    36   Q.   Do you have any difficulty with that?
    37        A.  No, I do not.
    38
    39   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is the spread across industries even or very
    40        uneven?
         A.  As far as the extent of union organisations?
    42
    43   Q.   Yes.  I know very little about American unions.  One union
    44        which, from time to time, has drawn rather sensational
    45        publicity in this country is the one which truck drivers
    46        belong to, for instance.  I do not know whether any truck
    47        drivers are union members nowadays or not, but does it tend
    48        to go by industries, or is it a minority percentage across
    49        the board, in so far as you can say?
    50        A.  It does go by industries, but the degree of 
    51        organisation, as I would say, will vary within an industry, 
    52        but there are certain industries where it is more 
    53        concentrated, if you will.
    54
    55        For example, you were mentioning the truck driver
    56        industry.  I would say that unions are quite dominant as,
    57        apparently, from what my Lord said there, in the automobile
    58        manufacturing sector, unions would be quite dominant,
    59        although there are non-union manufacturers in the US.  In
    60        the quick service restaurant industry area there are