Day 175 - 18 Oct 95 - Page 09

     
     1        the same basis.
     2
     3        The atmosphere in the store was very different to that
     4        presented to me at my interview.  Individuals staff or
     5         'crew members' were encouraged to be management sneaks.
     6        Any information that managers might find useful was awarded
     7        in favours, promotion and pay rises.
     8
     9        Despite the presence of Asian, black and Oriental managers,
    10        the store was blatantly racist.  Asian male staff were
    11        nearly always cleaning the toilets or on 'environment/index.html">litter patrol'.
    12        The non-white managers were happy to provide a non-racist
    13        veneer and seemed to feel their status elevated them above
    14        the racial inferiority they imposed on others.
    15
    16        The Manager openly agreed that women, the prettier the
    17        better, should operate the tills, especially on a
    18        Saturday.  This would encourage male custom.  Some of the
    19        managers were extremely homophobic and would encourage
    20        like-minded staff to abuse 'suspected' gay and lesbian
         staff.
    22
    23        On one occasion I prevented the Store Manager, Phil, from
    24        being assaulted by a customer, but managers would often
    25        allow staff to be abused and threatened rather than lose a
    26        customer.
    27
    28        McDonald's lays great store by its strict rules relating to
    29        hygiene and food preparation.  In a training film, it shows
    30        a slovenly, dirty store where the staff rush around because
    31        their lookout has spotted an Area Manager in the area.  The
    32        film is supposed to be showing staff that this is how not
    33        to operate, but is probably nearer the truth of how stores
    34        operate.  Whenever a spot check was made by an Area
    35        Manager, we always received a 'tip off' so we could go into
    36        overdrive to ensure that they found the store up to
    37        scratch.
    38
    39        Whilst at the Sutton store, a worker, Adam, slipped on a
    40        greasy floor and seriously burned his arm.  He was later
         persuaded that any compensation claim would fail because it
    42        had been his personal responsibility to mop the floor, even
    43        though he had been too busy to do this because he had been
    44        asked to cook.
    45
    46        Burgers have a 'holding time' of around eight to 10
    47        minutes.  To ensure this is adhered to, time cards are
    48        supposed to be put into the heated storage area.  However,
    49        individuals do not want a high waste record to count
    50        against them, so they either do not use the cards or they 
    51        use their own longer holding times.  Egg McMuffins were 
    52        often kept for over an hour as they sold so irregularly. 
    53        In fact, McDonald's stopped selling them after the
    54        breakfast period because of this.
    55
    56        The pressure in busy times meant that food which had fallen
    57        on the floor or undercooked meats would be served.  This
    58        was against the rules, of course, but strict adherence to
    59        all rules would have made the job impossible with the
    60        inadequate staffing levels.  The Company of McDonald's may