Day 182 - 02 Nov 95 - Page 17
1 A. Well, I believe almost all of these -- I think 10 out
2 of 11, or nine out of 11 -- were Sri Lankans, which do not
3 speak Norwegian almost at all; and, obviously, it would be
4 very, very difficult for them to work in a restaurant where
5 you have to be both fluent in Norwegian and some English.
6
7 Q. Now, if you just go to letter 2. Hold on a second. I
8 only want to refer to letters that we need, just so we can
9 get them translated. Is it common ground -- I suppose it
10 is common ground that they were -- you said the union
11 opposed on their behalf anyway, these dismissals?
12 A. Yes.
13
14 Q. If we go to letter 4, this is the final agreement that they
15 would be taken back; yes?
16 A. Yes.
17
18 Q. Can you point out to us relevant passages?
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Well, I do not -- you see, that immediately
21 puts the judgment of what is relevant in the witness. If
22 you want to rely on this at all, I suggest that you -- it
23 will take a little time -- you merely ask Mr. Jenssen to
24 read it through in English.
25
26 MR. MORRIS: Right.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: (To the witness): Can you do that? Take your
29 time, and give us the best translation you can.
30 A. I will try.
31
32 MR. MORRIS: Can you just -- right, just a translation.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: There is no issue that the union warned
35 McDonald's that there would be a strike. Mr. Holm does not
36 dispute that. The dispute is about any suggestion that
37 McDonald's were worried that the strike would affect their
38 suppliers, because, rightly or wrongly, Mr. Holm said he
39 was not concerned about that because he has one supplying
40 company which is not union organised. I would have
41 thought, since that is the only issue, that is what you
42 should concentrate on, if indeed there is any dispute about
43 it.
44
45 MR. MORRIS: The only point that I wanted to draw the court's
46 attention to was point number 2, which Mr. Jenssen has told
47 me clearly says about how their wages are going to go up
48 40 per cent, and we can see the word -----
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: If you are going to do that, I really think we
51 have to have the whole letter, because that may seem the
52 only important thing to you but, if you are looking at it
53 from a different perspective, there may be something else
54 which is important.
55
56 MR. MORRIS: Mr. Jenssen has given his evidence on that; and if
57 Mr. Rampton wants to challenge it, then I will leave that
58 to Mr. Rampton.
59
60 MR. RAMPTON: No, my Lord, that is not fair, you see. It is
