Day 301 - 15 Nov 96 - Page 35
1 working in management, or what side they got out of bed, or
2 anything, it is all about the central plank of their
3 employment practice is the determination to keep crew
4 labour costs low. The fact that they do that, they monitor
5 it, hourly in the stores, daily, we have heard from phone
6 calls from supervisors, 'What is your percentage today?'
7 and it is something which managers are constantly aware of
8 and have to do a report on every day.
9
10 Now, Mr. Nicholson explained how McDonald's chose a store
11 of the year or, as it turned out, there may be a few stores
12 of the year, chosen by the company because of its overall,
13 what he called exemplary, practices, including personnel
14 matters. That was day 121, page 2, line 48. He said on
15 page 3, it is an example to others -- that is not a direct
16 quote. In 1987, Colchester was chosen. We called half a
17 dozen witnesses who worked there around this period,
18 including of course the people from managerial grades,
19 including the store manager, who personally became a store
20 manager at a later date. Mr. Nicholson accepted that at
21 Colchester special clean ups were ordered when senior
22 management were due to visit. I think that is from Mark
23 Davis's statement. Some employees had to work through the
24 night. So, artificial image was created for higher
25 management. That breaks were sometimes shortened. That
26 was 121, page 21, line 12. Hours could be compulsorily
27 cut, which he described to be "unfair and unacceptable" ,
28 or extended.
29
30 Now, these points are referred to on day 121, page 10, line
31 41; page 8, line 56; page 15, line 45, and I think
32 page 19. I cannot quite read my note here. Page 19, line
33 58. He also admitted that staff sometimes work very long
34 hours, which he said indicated "that it was understaffed",
35 that is 121, page 11, line 33, or did double shifts, about
36 which he commented "they would be exhausted", and that is
37 page 15, line 4 on that day. All these admissions were
38 reluctant but based upon the overwhelming evidence that we
39 would be bringing to court, and we obviously contrasted
40 these practices with the fact that the store was still
41 chosen store of the year. He stated, "If they were
42 happening in all McDonald's stores, it would not concern
43 me." That was day 121, page 22, line 17.
44
45 Of course, he could not say they concerned him. I mean,
46 individually, he had to accept these were happening and
47 they were all of concern, but if, of course, that is
48 happening at their exemplary store, they are likely to be
49 happening everywhere in the country, and he was faced with
50 a logical dilemma at that point.
51
52 I am just about to go on to unions. Maybe I should deal
53 with authoritarian management first. But the point that we
54 are making is that, you know, it is not to criticise
55 individual managers or even individual area supervisors or
56 even Mr. Nicholson, because they are all working in a
57 system where they have very little say because it is so
58 tightly structured, so carefully monitored and managed and
59 where, we are clear, there is enormous care taken in
60 planning and revising techniques and strategies, systems,
