Day 180 - 31 Oct 95 - Page 06

     
     1        "5.  In 1986 I published 'Twilight Robbery:  Trade unions
     2        and low paid workers' (Pluto Press), which showed that
     3        the 'main concentrations of low paid workers are in the
     4        service industries - shops, hotel and catering,
     5        distribution ... even in the same low paid jobs, such as
     6        bar work or cleaning, women's hourly rates of pay are less
     7        than men's.  On average, women's full-time hourly rates are
     8        about 74 per cent of men's.'  This combination of low and
     9        unequal pay is a constant problem among low paid,
    10        especially female, employees in the catering sector.  The
    11        book argued that the removal of the safety net of wages
    12        council minimum wage rates would lead to a collapse in pay
    13        rates in many low paid sectors.  Until the passing of the
    14        1993 Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act, wages
    15        councils used to cover fast food outlets."
    16
    17        Is that all correct so far?
    18        A.  Yes.
    19
    20   Q.   "6:  I contributed to the London Food Commission's
         report, 'Fast Food Facts' (Dr.T. Lobstein 1988), which
    22        described pay and conditions in the fast food sector.  It
    23        stated that, 'Part-time working is common in fast food
    24        stores and staff turnover is high.  In one study, it was
    25        found that a third of those that left fast food employment
    26        had been sacked.  Yet the law does not permit anyone with
    27        less than two years' continuous service to claim for unfair
    28        dismissal (unless it is for racial or sexual
    29        discrimination) ... effectively, very few people in fast
    30        food service ever earn this basic employment right.'
    31        These comments reflect my own experience in the field as a
    32        full-time union officer.
    33
    34        "7.  Fast Food Facts also draws upon a unique study of
    35        employment in the fast food sector by Dr. Yiannis Gabriel
    36        ('Working Lives in Catering', 1988).  I reviewed this
    37        latter book in New Statesman, highlighting such issues as
    38        high staff turnover and the intense work regime.
    39
    40        Gabriel showed that only 10 per cent of the fast food staff
         he interviewed had worked in the same place for as long as
    42        two years.  They had little hope of promotion and believed
    43        that fast food offered, to quote, 'crap jobs', a conclusion
    44        that must be of concern at some level, given the high
    45        proportion of young people who find their first job in the
    46        catering sector.  Gabriel found that 70 per cent of the
    47        fast food workers he interviewed in a major chain agreed
    48        that they needed union protection and help over pay and
    49        conditions.  They felt that the union could give a voice
    50        where they had none at present." 
    51 
    52        Does that all accord with your expertise and experience? 
    53        A.  It does.
    54
    55   Q.   "8.  Lobstein noted that, 'Although trade unions have
    56        failed to gain a foothold in the UK McDonald's outlets,
    57        they have succeeded in other countries, particularly where
    58        basic employment protection rights for individual workers
    59        are relatively strong.'  He cites instances in Sweden,
    60        Dublin and Mexico to make the point which in general, in my