Day 214 - 01 02 96 - Page 4

 
 

                                                                  DAY 214
 
                                                 DAVID ROBERTS, Examined:
 
 
 
     1        paragraph 4?  In paragraph 3 you have told us that when you
     2        arrived at Heathrow on 25th June the obvious problem was
     3        understaffing.  In paragraph 4 on the second page you tell
     4        us that, as an interim measure, you arranged for the
     5        transfer of a number of experienced crew members from other
     6        restaurants to tied you over while you recruited and
     7        trained new crew members.  In the first month you took on
     8        40 new crew.  Since writing that or dictating it, or
     9        whatever you did, since that was written, have you actually
    10        checked the crew payroll sheets that we have?
    11        A.  Yes, I have.  It was actually 44 in the first ......
    12
    13   Q.   Actually 44, is it?  Can I ask you first, what sort of
    14        catchment area did you use for the transfer of experienced
    15        crew people to Heathrow?
    16        A.  I used -- I got assistance from the restaurant I was at
    17        previously, Uxbridge, which was situated quite closely.  So
    18        I brought some experienced people over from there; the
    19        Feltham restaurant as well, we had a few people come from
    20        there as well.  So, just the two restaurants; it was people
    21        that I knew.
    22
    23   Q.   Roughly what number of people, experienced people, are we
    24        talking about when we are looking at this emergency
    25        stop-gap?
    26        A.  There was five people who came in who worked full-time
    27        for me.
    28
    29   Q.   So it is only five?
    30        A.  Just five, yes.
    31
    32   Q.   So the rest of the 39 or whatever the crew number in the
    33        first month were new people, were they?
    34        A.  The 44 was completely new crew; that did not include
    35        the five.
    36
    37   Q.   I see.  So you have excluded the five transferred?
    38        A.  That is correct, yes.
    39
    40   Q.   Whether or not that is a remarkable figure in a short time
    41        is a matter of comment.  What I would like to ask you is
    42        how you achieved that figure in that time?
    43        A.  The first thing was that anybody who came in and asked
    44        for a job, we would actually give them an interview
    45        straightaway.  If I was not there, then the Manager who
    46        would be working would give them a first interview and then
    47        refer them to me at a time I was working, so I would give
    48        them a second interview.  But, obviously, it was during the
    49        summer, so there was a lot of people looking for jobs.  It
    50        was just a matter of time, you know, devoting the time to 
    51        it. 
    52 
    53        Secondly, anybody who was working in the restaurant
    54        already, we asked them if they had friends who would be
    55        interested in getting a job.  We also arranged for an open
    56        day to be held.  We advertised it in the Job Centre and in
    57        the restaurant itself for about two weeks; and myself and
    58        Kim Moffatt, we instituted the whole day, anybody who came
    59        in.
    60
 
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