Day 151 - 10 Jul 95 - Page 08

     
     1        people have a 40 year work experience, all the young people
     2        that work at McDonald's, tens of thousands of them every
     3        year, just do not come back when they get older, even
     4        though it is such a thrilling experience?
     5        A.  Once again, I must say it depends in the context in
     6        which they join us.  If they are join us as part-time
     7        students, I would love them to come back, but I would not
     8        expect them to.  They may well have degrees or studies
     9        which make them far more qualified to become doctors,
    10        physicians, or whatever else it can be.
    11
    12   Q.   Are you saying the majority of McDonald's workers, the
    13        majority of your 30,000 employees, currently, will get
    14        degrees?
    15        A.  I never said that at all.  I said if they were students
    16         -----
    17
    18   Q.   What about the majority who do not get degrees who remain
    19        in need of money for their 40 years of working life and who
    20        do not come back to McDonald's; how can you explain that
         then?
    22        A.  Are you saying people who leave voluntarily or
    23        involuntarily, then?
    24
    25   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  When you say you are not aware of anyone
    26        returning to McDonald's after a three year gap, are you
    27        saying positively no one does, or just you are not aware of
    28        it?
    29        A.  My personal knowledge is that I know of no one who has
    30        come back.  I cannot speak for the rest of them.
    31
    32   Q.   If it be the case that someone has come to McDonald's as a
    33        first job ---
    34        A.  Right.
    35
    36   Q.  -- but it is the only job they have got, it is a full-time
    37        job, it is their only source of income; they leave
    38        McDonald's, they do not come back.  You are being asked
    39        what conclusion you draw from that, if indeed you feel able
    40        to draw any conclusion.  Mr. Morris is suggesting it is
         because they must have found something better; and that
    42        that is not difficult, he would suggest, because of the
    43        rates of pay and conditions.  That is what is being put to
    44        you.
    45        A.  I find it very difficult to draw conclusions if there
    46        are no facts.  The facts of the matter need to be --
    47        whether or not that person leaves after one day or leaves
    48        after one year or one month.  They may well, in terms of
    49        personal satisfaction, find a job that pays more, maybe in
    50        a different part of the area; maybe their spouse has had to 
    51        relocate.  I cannot draw any firm conclusions unless I know 
    52        specifically what facts you wish me to evaluate. 
    53
    54   MR. MORRIS:  The fact is, in your experience, you have never
    55        come across anybody who returned after a three year gap?
    56        A.  Well, if that is a personal failing -----
    57
    58   Q.   You are a person who has great experience, is in touch with
    59        the grass roots, who is continuously concerned about
    60        operational and personal matters and whatever, has given