An expansive multilingual web site encourages direct action, and links rebellious burger flippers from the UK, USA, Russia, Canada, Australia and continental Europe

The organisation calls itself McDonald's Workers' Resistance (MWR). Those involved with MWR act anonymously, using pseudonyms and communicating through secretive e-mail discussion groups. The company is still unable to pinpoint those responsible.

Thousands of McDonald's workers have viewed the MWR website (  http://mwr.org.uk ).

The UK leads the way- the organisation was started in Glasgow and the UK remains a stronghold with nine groups.

'Webel', a spokesman from the Glasgow branch of MWR says "F**k Ronald McDonald, we are sick of low wages and crap conditions. We want to destroy the McDonalds empire and all wage labour."

'Funnywump' (also a spokesman from Glasgow MWR) adds "the day of action is to demand our right to organise. We don't want to prostitute our lives and resign ourselves to drudgery. And that's what McJobs mean- to surrender a piece of your life to an idiotic pursuit of wealth on behalf of those who already have too much."

According to Trixxy, a spokeswoman from greater London MWR, "it's all the corporate bulls**t you notice first, and that makes you think about the exploitation, the greed, the general obscenity of McDonald's."

Webel believes "we're now ready to take on McDonald's, we don't care if it means breaking the law, the workers united are unstoppable, Ronald's days of making billions off our backs are numbered."

Asked what he hopes other workers will do on October 16th, Webel replies "break stuff, make love to each other in the stock room, who cares? As long as none of us are making money for McDonald's."

One branch of MWR has produced two copies of a magazine McSues, a spoof on the company's staff magazine McNews. As well as encouraging insurrection and direct action amongst the workforce, it contains articles such as Ronald McDonald is a f**king Tart. More than 4000 copies have been distributed to McDonald's workers (  http://mwr.org.uk/mcsues.htm )

Plans already made for October 16th include blocking plumbing, defrosting food, working slow, phoning in sick, sabotaging machines, stealing extra money from the tills, giving away free food and walking off at busy periods.

McDonald's employ 1.5 million people around the world, the vast majority of whom are very low paid. At the McLibel trial the judge ruled McDonald's "does pay its workers low wages, thereby helping to depress wages for workers in the catering trade in Britain" (  http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/trial/verdict/quotes.html ) and is "strongly antipathetic" towards trade unions (  http://www.mcspotlight.org/case/trial/verdict/index.html ). McDonald's makes over $3 billion every year and has a turnover in excess of $30 billion.

The workers have chosen October 16th because it has been annual Global Day of Action Against McDonald's since the mid 1980s. A day when animal rights activists and anti-capitalists have traditionally demonstrated at outlets of the multi-national.

According to Funnywump, "This is so important, nothing like this has ever happened before. Our resistance is as global as their business. MWR is both serious and humurous, it's a radical, innovative attempt to change the world."

Webel agrees: "we have a laugh and get pissed lots, but it's also serious- there is a young generation of workers, passionate and rebellious, we wont put up with the same s**t our parents did."

A spokeswoman from Midlands MWR puts it simply- "we don't take s**t, we make it."


The following quotations are from the main MWR web site:

“You should work out with kitchen staff signals to deal with objectionable customers. For example, ‘extra bacon’ as a grill order might mean the order is for a police officer. It’s then up to kitchen to do their worst. Or, a ‘big Mac extra cheese, extra milk’, might mean ‘an abusive customer has ordered a big Mac extra cheese, please spit in it’. Abusive customers very often order grills because being awkward is their raison d’être.” (  http://mwr.org.uk/front.htm )

“Thus far we’ve talked only about money. This is, of course, only a fraction of the potential swag present in a McDonalds. Everything is up for grabs- happy toys, cheese, chocolate flakes, lettuce, wedges, sauce portions, cleaning substances, strip lights, sticky tape, cooking equipment, salt, pepper, sugar, pancake mix, plants, tea bags, rubbish bags, balloons, ladders, toilet roll, fire extinguishers... You need never shop again! All your worldly needs can be met by McDonald's (except alcohol and class A drugs which you can get by selling McDonald's stock), they are delighted to help.” (  http://mwr.org.uk/stealing.htm )

“One of the reasons workplace exploitation continues is because we are encouraged to think our frustration is a personal issue- don’t like McDonalds? Quit and try Burger King. Still shit? Quit, work in a pub. Don’t like that? Try a call centre. Try another call centre, work in an office... This can go on indefinitely until we recognise collectively that our frustration is not a personal issue, is not even a question of a particular job, but is an effect of a social system that exists in opposition to our pursuit of happiness.” (  http://mwr.org.uk/faqs.htm )

“Working for McDonalds is tedious, dehumanizing, pointless activity. None of us should have to spend our time that way. We have to find jobs where capitalism needs our labour, the only people who benefit from this racket are the burger bosses and others like them. If you want to know the difference between the work of today and the activity that represents our future, then today work for McDonalds and tomorrow take up cooking as a hobby.” (  http://www.mwr.org.uk/why.htm )


Notes to editors:

We regret that for security reasons we cannot under any circumstances meet with journalists or photographers, nor can we conduct interviews by telephone. We regret that we cannot supply photographic material. We endeavour to answer all e-mail inquiries but it is very unlikely that we will be able to reply in time for imminent deadlines. If you would like more information, we reccomend you consult  http://mwr.org.uk . Journalists are welcome to quote small sections of text from this site. A collection of quotes can be found at  http://mwr.org.uk/highlights.htm . See also, our FAQs at  http://mwr.org.uk/faqs.htm . For more general information on McDonalds, including court transcripts, please see  http://www.mcspotlight.org .


Contact:

 info@mwr.org.uk
 mwrposse@yahoo.co.uk

MWR
PO Box 3828
Glasgow, G41 1YU
UK

 http://www.mwr.org.uk

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