McDonalds Workers Resistance monthly reports

November 2001

Dear friends,
Firstly, there is a new issue of McSues ready. It manages to be even more offensive than the first one and is hopefully a good laugh with a serious message. So, McWorkers, please let us know if you are wanting copies to distribute around your store. As people will know, the first issue was distributed around the world, often by people who don't work for McDonalds but who want to help. This help is invaluable and is very greatly appreciated. If people who distributed Issue 1 are up for it again, then please let us know and we'll send out copies (some people have already indicated they could help with issue 2, and they'll get copies as soon as we get our act together). A text only version will appear on line, agian, when we get our act together. Many thanks.

Secondly, this one is for all the mcworkers around the world who are resisting in their local area. We would like to encourage you all to set up anonymous e-mail addresses at which other local McDonalds employees can contact you directly. This will mean that everything doesn't have to go through us, and the network will be less centralised. Just set up a yahoo account or something, or if you prefer, we can set up an address at our web domain and direct it into wherever. Hopefully, if workers see a direct contact in their local area, they'll be more likely to get involved. We will publicise the local addresses on our web site which is coming soon(ish).

We are also hoping to start doing a monthly bulletin with news from round the world, so please send us anything you think should be included.

That's all, Best wishes and solidarity, Wump 4 Glasgow MWR.

February 2002

Dear friends,

Unremarkably, we did nothing over Christmas and new year except got pissed, constantly. Nevertheless, we do have a few bits of news to report.

The comically overdue website is now online at:

http://www.mwr.org.uk

It's not very good, but it's there! So please visit us. Also, if you're going to be kind enough to link to us, then please link to www.mwr.org.uk as the hosting is temporary but that address will be permanent.

We were cut from a BBC documentary on fast food because we were apparently too politically contentious for a show being produced by Tim Henman's wife. We were really pissed off about this 'cos we'd bought loads of balaclavas especially. In the end, our ambiguous relationship with the mass media has continued, bizarrely, with an interview in March's 'Loaded' magazine, the editor apparently said there was room for a few more tits... So we're sandwiched between Carmen Electra and Helena Christensen, etc. Buy it, really! It's only £3.00 and you get advice on cunnilingus and a free sachet of conditioner... Seriously, we don't think there is much point talking to ourselves, we want to communicate with our co-workers, which is our justification for doing an interview with a low quality wank mag.

Solidarity to our comrades in Paris: since the 24th October the workers at the Strasbourg-St.Denis branch of McDonald's in Paris have been on strike for the reinstatement of five of their colleagues, who were accused of theft by the management (who have not provided any evidence for their claim). It was obviously a coincidence that the five workers sacked were candidates for the 'elections professionnelles', a kind of works council. The management ignored the strikers at first which quickly made clear to the strikers and their support committee that the movement had to be expanded. For this reason the strikers and the committee have been regularly picketing a different McDonald's branch since November. These actions have made it possible to come to a list of demands: for a 6% wage increase; better working conditions; bonuses for 'dirty work'; recognition of the right to strike and the right for trade union organisation... This has broadened out the struggle and inceased the consciousness of the employees, to show that the fight is not only against the management [of one branch], but against employment without protection and workers' rights [i.e. against 'McJobs'] The five young workers who were sacked won a tribunal case against McDonald's on 25th January and the court said they have to be given their jobs back. However the fight is not over and there was a massive demo in Paris on 2nd February. Email the strikers at: [email protected], and see http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/mcds/indymedia200102.html

We should also introduce our new friends the 'McDonalds International Liberation Front' to whom we send our solidarity, even though they do insist on describing us as "pussy white boys". We've let them rant on our web site at: http://www.mwr.org.uk/milf.htm, and they can be e-mailed at: [email protected]

Solidarity to our friends the Workers Resistance against McDonalds, they got caught by McDonalds for their activities at the end of last year. What got them was that folk knew about their internet abilities, so unlikely to be a problem for us! McDonalds quizzed all the staff in their area about who was competent on computers. Scary people. Still, their struggle goes on, indeed it's flourishing, they have contacts in several stores. They've changed the location of their website, it's now at: www.wram.org.uk

MWR's group in Stirling (also in Scotland) is thriving, they can be e-mailed at: [email protected]

Special thanks to everyone who has done or is doing translation work for us, it's greatly apreciated.

Finally, we have to note that senior management failed to send us a Christmas card this year despite us having sent them this lovely effort last year. This is a clear snub and is really just plain ignorant. Fucking parasites.

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and new year,

Love and solidarity,

McDonalds Workers Resistance.

March 2002

Glasgow McDonalds Workers Resistance
Monthly Bulletin, March 2002
INCLUDING...
* This months funny phone call
* This months news
* This months shit thing McDonalds have been doing
* The avant-bard
* Apologies, cries for help, etc.

THIS MONTHS FUNNY PHONE CALL...

Funnywump called up business tycoon Richard Branson on his mobile the other day. "To be honest the exchange would have been funnier if I could have heard a word the fucker said... he owns a mobile phone company, you'd have thought he could have got one that works."

Anyway, Wump calls RBs mobile but it's switched off, so he tries again later:
(beep, beep, crackle, crackle)
FW: Hi, Richard?
RB: Yes
FW: How are you?
RB: Yes (mumble, crackle)
FW: I'm phoning on behalf of McDonalds Workers Resistance, em, you're very much the happy
smiling face of rampant capitalist greed...
RB: (crackled laugh)
FW: We were wondering if you'd like to donate to our cause?
RB: Sorry, who did you say you were?
FW: You've the memory of a gold fish, MWR, and the cause is the destruction of wage labour,
one which I'm sure is very close to your heart
RB: I don't (mumble, crackle, mumble) FW: What about shares in your beard?
RB HANGS UP FW: Virgin
"it's over man, he's gone"

It went something like that anyway.

So, that didn't achieve anything but was a bit of a laugh.

REGIONAL CO-ORDINATORS WANTED

(The successful applicants shall have an intense dislike for their employer)

Do you want to be a regional co-ordinator/ contact/ make up your own title? Well if you work for McDonalds and agree with the general idea of MWR (i.e.. you recognise that McDonalds just wants to make money out of you, that you have no interest in common with the company and are committed to improving the conditions of all McDonalds hourly paid staff without assuming any position of leadership) then please let us know, or if you’re in North America, please contact our people across the Atlantic: [email protected] You don’t have to do much, just act as a contact point for other McDonalds workers in your area so that we can start to build resistance locally and so that things are less centralised and less stuff has to go through us losers.

THIS MONTHS NEWS...

It's with the greatest pleasure that we announce the establishment of MWR's friends in America. We've been lucky enough to get together with a group of McWorkers based in the US who see things similarly to ourselves and who have agreed to become our North American convenors. It's hoped this development will lead to more McDonalds workers groups being established across North America, and to decentralisation of the McWorkers movement away fae Glasgow. If you're based in North America and work for McDonalds or support workers organisation in McDonalds, then please get in touch with our new North American convenors: [email protected] Recently they have been working hard, campaigning to raise the minimum wage in their state. In their own words: "these are small steps, but small steps can bring great changes"

We've started an online guestbook which you can get to from: http://www.mwr.org.uk/home.htm so please sign it and say something nice.

The Stirling group have a new e-mail address 'cos the old one wasnae working, it's now:
[email protected] So write to them and send love and kisses.

We’ve been doing a lot of work on the web site. We've got some of the translations up: Italian, German and Spanish. Special thanks to those responsible and those still working on translations. Can anyone translate into French? Le Francais de la MWR cest pas bon, nous sommes merde. Voudrais l'assistance sil vous plait. We are working on loads of new stuff, including a complete guide to working at McDonalds and we are also trying to put into words some of the ideas behind MWR.
http://www.mwr.org.uk

Bizarrely, someon e complained that they don’t hear enough from us (!?) So if anyone is finding the job so miserable that hearing from us could actually improve their day and would like to be informed every time the news page is updated (every few days), then please send a blank e-mail to:
[email protected]
Or try and get out more.

THIS MONTHS SHIT THING MCDONALDS HAVE BEEN DOING...

Here's an interesting story from Germany, courtesy of a group called "slaves in mutiny". McDonalds wanted to open a new outlet in Germany and so they needed labour cheap and fast. It seems the appeal of a free uniform and £4.00 an hour to work your ass off for one of the dodgiest corporations in the world led to recruitment at a rate that was neither fast enough or cheap enough. So, McDonalds (every government’s favourite 'corporate citizen') worked together with the job centre/benefit agency to press gang locals into McService. The new McEmployees get 11,10 DM (about £3.40) an hour. Unemployed people are interviewed in the job centre while the dole officer is present and if they don't accept the job, they will have their benefits cut completely for three months. Work for McDonalds or starve. Exploitation in the workplace continues because employers are backed by the state, and this backing ultimately takes the form of violence. It also shows that as workers fighting our employer, our struggle is linked with that of benefit claimants. Governments spend millions trying to convince workers that claimants are 'scroungers' etc. That's fucking bullshit designed to divide us. Claimants, workers, we're all on the same side. The real scroungers are the bosses who get richer and richer at our expense.

THE AVANT-BARD

The Nation mourns

T’was with much sadness that I learned Queen Ma had passed away It meant I’d lost our sweepstake having put her down for May. They’ve called for several days of mourning (somebody said nine!) There’s talk of a national holiday, we’ll not even get double time. She never worked at McDonalds, she was never that short of wealth Which makes this less than relevant, but explains her excellent health. She could have worked for McDonalds had she stayed in Germany, Where benefit claimants are forced McJobs and given derisory pay. But she lived her life at our expense and now we’re meant to cry, When an ancient royal parasite has the decency to die. One thing that was a little sad, one thing that kind of stung, It’s just so much better fun when royals die young.

APOLOGY

The response to our humble web site has been great. Loads of thanks to everyone who has contacted us. However, it's meant that we had quite a lot of stuff to send out to people and we’re really incompetent so it took ages. However, we have now posted everything and so it should be arriving soon. If you’re waiting on something and after a while it still hasn’t turned up then please get in touch with us. Sorry again and we’ll try and get our arses in gear for the future.

MILF, where are you? Your e-mail address isn’t working and we can’t remember which is one of your personal addresses. Please get in touch, we miss you bad mother fuckers.

This month we have mostly been supporting... protesters and detainees at the Woomera detention centre in Australia: http://www.woomera2002.com

Finally, in case anyone saw the April 1st post on the news page about our collaboration with the UK Independence Party and ‘Burger Jester’ that was not an April fools joke. http://www.mwr.org.uk/news.htm

libcom note: after this report their website stated:
I know this looks dead shit, like we've done fuck all in ages, but we've not given up or nothing, We still produce monthly bulletins but at present we're unable to put them online. If you would like to receive bulletins by e-mail then please join our mailing list

From www.mwr.org.uk